Drone attack ignites blaze at energy plant in Russia's Volgograd, governor says

A drone attack in Russia's Volgograd region injured five people and sparked a fire at an energy facility, amid Ukraine's stepped-up strikes on Russian logistics hubs and energy facilities.

A ​drone attack touched off ​a fire at an energy ‌facility and ​warehouses in Russia's Volgograd region on Friday, injuring five, the regional governor, Andrei ‌Bocharov, said, but stopped short of giving details of the facility.

The region is home to a Lukoil-owned oil refinery. Five people are ‌seeking medical help after the attacks, Bocharov added on Telegram. In ‌the neighbouring southern region of Rostov, a woman was injured after a drone attack in the town of Gukovo, regional governor Yuri Slyusar said on ⁠the ​messaging app.

Ukraine has ⁠recently stepped up attacks on Russian logistics hubs, such as those of ⁠top online retailer Wildberries, as it keeps up strikes on energy facilities ​that have triggered a supply crisis across most of Russia. Wildberries, ⁠with a few of its warehouses hit as recently as Thursday, said on ⁠Telegram ​it had paid a second tranche of financial support to nearly 100,000 sellers whose goods were damaged.

Ukraine, with its ⁠own cities under constant Russian attack, says its strikes deep inside the ⁠neighbour are "long-range sanctions" ⁠designed to sap Moscow's war-fighting capacity and force it to end the 4-1/2-year conflict.