Child killed in Ukrainian drone strike on Russian town – governor
A child has been killed and five other people injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Krasnodar Region, local Governor Veniamin Kondratyev has said.
Several drones were shot down by air defenses over the town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Azov Sea coast, Kondratyev wrote on Telegram on Friday morning.
Some of the debris fell onto a residential area, damaging a three-story apartment block, according to the governor.
Initially, Kondratyev said six people, including two children, required hospitalization as a result of the attack. However, in a later post he wrote that “unfortunately, a six-year-old girl, who was injured in the drone raid in Primorsko-Akhtarsk, has died from her injuries.”
“I offer my most sincere and deepest condolences to the family. Although in such a situation it is very difficult to find proper words of consolation and support,” the governor said.
Photos and video from the scene showed the upper floor of the residential building sustaining significant damage in the attack. The external wall in one of the apartments appears to have been completely destroyed by the explosion.
The attack has also damaged a power station which supplies electricity “to a significant part” of the town of some 30,500. Repair work is underway on site, Kondratyev said.
Primorsko-Akhtarsk is in the northwestern part of Krasnodar Region in southern Russia. A military airfield is located near the city.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in statement that 50 attempts by “the Kiev regime” to carry out “terrorist attacks” using drones on Russian territory had been thwarted overnight. Air defenses destroyed 14 UAVs in Krasnodar Region and 26 in Zaporozhye Region, with ten more being shot down or suppressed by electronic warfare means in Rostov Region, it added.
Russia’s western and southern regions have been the targets of Ukrainian drone attacks on an almost daily basis since the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, which directly border Ukraine, have been the worst-affected, but strikes have also been frequent in Krasnodar, Rostov and other areas. The raids by Kiev’s forces have been aimed against energy infrastructure and residential areas, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, as well as the destruction of property.
