Russia reports strikes on Ukrainian logistics sites as drones spark fires in Ryazan
Attacks on infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine caused fires, injuries and power disruptions as both countries continued strikes on logistics and energy facilities.
By Isabella Kaur ·
Russia said on Thursday, November 5, that it had struck a Ukrainian postal facility, an electricity substation and a cargo vessel in the Black Sea, while Ukrainian drones triggered industrial fires in Russia’s Ryazan region. Authorities on both sides reported injuries as attacks continued against infrastructure.
In a Telegram statement, Russia’s Defence Ministry said drones hit a Nova Poshta terminal in Novyi Korotych, outside Kharkiv. The company is Ukraine’s largest private delivery operator. The ministry also reported striking a 330-kilovolt substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region and a dry cargo vessel that it said was transporting military equipment, 52km southwest of Odesa. Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm either the postal terminal strike or the attack on the ship.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said more than 80 Russian drones had targeted the city and 17 settlements across the region during the previous day, leaving six people injured, among them a child. In the Bucha district near Kyiv, overnight Russian drone attacks caused major fires at a targeted logistics centre and injured one person. Moscow maintains that the logistics facilities it attacks support Ukraine’s military. Nova Poshta sites have been struck repeatedly, including a Kyiv sorting centre where an August attack killed three people.
In Donetsk, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported that Russian attacks on Wednesday killed four civilians and wounded five others. Two deaths were recorded in Serhiivka and two in Yasnohirka. According to local outlet Novosti Donbasu, the victims in Yasnohirka were women killed when two Russian glide bombs struck the village.
Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said more than 200 Ukrainian drones attacked his region overnight. Ryazan lies about 200km southeast of Moscow. He said debris started fires at several industrial facilities, damaged electricity lines and interrupted power supplies to parts of the city. One person was injured. Malkov subsequently reported that electricity had been restored and the fires were either out or contained.
Although Malkov did not identify the affected facilities, the independent Russian outlet Astra verified footage showing a blaze at the Ryazan oil refinery. Owned by state energy company Rosneft, it is one of Russia’s largest refineries. A school in Ryazan also sustained shattered windows, and classes were cancelled.
Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said Ukraine had increased attacks on Russian refineries following a short pause in late October, with the Yaroslavl refinery struck two days earlier. She said fuel production had continued, although occasional shortages were reported as motorists rushed to buy fuel after hearing about refinery attacks.
Russia has also stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s electricity network, with rolling blackouts affecting Kyiv since mid-October. Al Jazeera’s Audrey McAlpine reported from the capital that some residents had gone days without electricity or water. She said city authorities had indicated heating would remain off until temperatures stayed at minus 5 degrees Celsius for five consecutive days. With temperatures nearing zero, she described the outages as increasingly dangerous.
