Russian authorities announced that 146 unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted over the Leningrad region, northwest of Moscow, during an ongoing series of attacks. Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko posted the figure on Telegram, noting that the counter‑action was still underway.
While the origin of the drones remains uncertain, a separate incident earlier this week saw a Ukrainian drone strike the region’s second‑largest oil refinery in Kirishi, resulting in a fatality. Local officials confirmed that a woman lost her life in the blast.
In addition to the refinery attack, a drone strike ignited a fire in the port area of Ust‑Luga on the Baltic Sea, according to Drozdenko’s Wednesday update.
The surge in aerial attacks coincides with the second day of U.S.‑mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the first day of negotiations as “constructive and quite substantive.”
Russian media also reported that Ukrainian forces fired at least 31 artillery shells at the Moscow‑occupied Donetsk region within 24 hours, wounding three civilians. Of those shells, 23 were fired in the Horlivka area, where a couple sustained injuries from a drone strike on a vehicle. Additional attacks were reported in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown.
In response to the escalating threat, Latvia and Lithuania urged residents to seek shelter after unidentified drones entered their airspace, allegedly via Russia or Belarus. The Baltic states activated NATO air defence and fighter jets to counter the violations.
Source: Al Jazeera
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