Ukraine fired dozens of drones at Russia’s southern Rostov region, home to its army headquarters for the military offensive, in the early hours of Friday, Russian officials said.
Russia’s defence ministry said it downed 53 Ukrainian drones overnight — 44 over the Rostov region — while the governor said a power station was damaged in the attack.
Rostov-on-Don, the capital of the region that sits just across the border from Ukraine, is the command headquarters for Russia’s military campaign and home to a swathe of Russian military sites.
“During the night and on the morning of April 5, the Kyiv regime tried to commit several terrorist attacks with aerial drones which were foiled,” the defence ministry said.
Other drone attacks targeted the Belgorod and Kursk border regions, as well as Saratov and Krasnodar.
In Saratov, the governor said a drone had targeted Engels, a city around 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the border that is home to a major Russian air base that has previously been hit.
Ukraine’s air force meanwhile said Russia launched five missiles and 13 drones at its territory overnight.
It said it downed the 13 drones, but did not say anything about the missiles, which targeted the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russian-installed authorities in areas of Ukraine occupied by Moscow’s forces also reported Ukrainian strikes on Friday.
Five people were injured, two seriously, in a drone attack on the Russian-controlled part of the southern Kherson region, while seven were injured in a strike on Gorlivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Moscow-appointed officials said.
