Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that 644 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over 26 Russian regions and annexed Crimea overnight, as U.S. President Donald Trump called Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries a “disgrace.”
Vladimir region Governor Alexander Avdeyev said air defenses repelled an attack aimed at municipal heating infrastructure serving the regional capital. According to Avdeyev, there were “minor” damages.
Unverified reporting by monitoring channels that shared video of an explosion against the dark sky claimed it targeted a data center owned by tech giant Yandex in Vladimir, which was previously damaged in last weekend’s strike.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses shot down 94 Ukrainian drones on approach to the capital between Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Nearly 160 flights were delayed or canceled across Moscow’s four main airports, with Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo bearing the brunt.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, a Russian attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv killed three people and injured five.
Russian strikes also left 370,000 residents in Ukraine’s northwestern Volyn region —which is near the Polish border — without electricity. Polish and NATO fighter jets were scrambled to safeguard Polish airspace.
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Rolling blackouts were also introduced in Kyiv during Russian attacks, said private energy provider DTEK on X.
Trump blindsided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last weekend by announcing that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to target each other’s energy facilities. Facing U.S. midterm elections in November, Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for pushing up energy prices that could cost him at the ballot box.
Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery after Zelensky declared that Kyiv was abandoning the energy ceasefire that Trump had announced, and criticized his willingness to strike deals with Moscow.
“All he’s doing is making the world oil price higher. Well, I think that’s a disgrace,” Trump said in an interview with the Newsmax news outlet, after Ukraine hit a refinery southeast of Moscow which helps to supply the Russian capital.
For Russia’s part, President Vladimir Putin played down the effect of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries, saying they had caused “nothing particularly significant.”
Reuters contributed reporting.
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