Second Russian fuel depot on fire as Ukrainian drones strike Russia’s Rostov and Voronezh regions

A Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s southern Rostov region in the early hours of Wednesday morning has caused a fire at a fuel depot near the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region Governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, adding that there had been no reported casualties.

The depot fire is the second in the Rostov region in two weeks, as another blaze at an oil depot in the town of Proletarsk remains unextinguished since the 18 August Ukrainian drone strike that caused it took place.

Another fire broke out after a drone was downed near the village of Malaya Mezhenka in Russia’s southern Voronezh region on Wednesday morning, Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

“The emergency services decided to temporarily evacuate residents of two villages,” Gusev said, adding that the fire “was extinguished by local forces and the situation has stabilised. Residents are returning to their homes.”

According to Russian Telegram news channel Astra, which citied local residents, the facility that caught fire in Malaya Mezhenka was an ammunition depot.

Two airports in Russia’s Volga region republic of Tatarstan had their operations suspended on Wednesday morning on “security grounds”, Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia said. Since 7am Moscow time, all flights to Kazan and Nizhnekamsk airports have been diverted to Samara, according to state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Telegram news channel Baza reported that the temporary closure of both airports was due to the threat of a Ukrainian drone strike. Tatarstan, which had long been thought to be beyond the range of Ukrainian drones, was first attacked by Ukraine in April, when 13 people were injured when two drones struck a dormitory.