Russia shoots down 92 drones over Leningrad region

Russia shot down 92 ​drones early on Wednesday in ​an attack over the ‌Leningrad ​region northwest of Moscow, Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on the Telegram messaging app. The region is ‌home to the ports of Ust-Luga, Primorsk and Vysotsk, key for Russia's oil and grain exports on the Baltic Sea, as well ‌as the Kirishi oil refinery, Russia's second-largest.

Reuters could not immediately ‌independently confirm the report. On Monday, a drone struck the Kirishi refinery, run by Surgutneftegaz, setting the plant on fire, and killed a woman in the region ⁠where ​St Petersburg, ⁠the hometown of President Vladimir Putin, is located.

Neighbours Latvia and Lithuania warned people ⁠to seek shelter against the threats of unidentified drones entering their airspace ​via Russia or Belarus, and said NATO air defence fighter jets ⁠were activated. In Ukraine, power went out in part of the central ⁠city ​of Kryvyi Rih, an industrial stronghold and hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, after a drone attack, an official said on Telegram.

The ⁠attacks come as the United States attempts a new peace push ⁠at the ⁠first Russia-Ukraine talks in nine months in Abu Dhabi, set to continue on Wednesday.