Russian governor: Ukraine drone attacks kill at least eight

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• Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia resulted in at least eight deaths and dozens of injuries, with facilities belonging to the online retailer Wildberries targeted in Tambov and Elektrostal.
• The Ukrainian Armed Forces were accused of carrying out terrorist attacks against civilian facilities in the Moscow region, prompting a criminal investigation by the Investigative Committee.
• President Zelensky stated that the strikes were in response to continued Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure, with Ukrainian drone forces claiming to have hit 172 Russian vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, prompting Moscow to redeploy units to protect maritime traffic.

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At least eight people were killed and dozens more injured in Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia, local authorities said on Saturday.

Seven people died in the Tambov region and there were also 25 injured, Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said on Telegram.

The victims were employees of a distribution centre belonging to the popular Russian online retailer Wildberries, he said. The city of Kotovsk, where the warehouse is located, is nearly 400 kilometres from Ukraine's eastern border.

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According to the authorities, there was also at least one person killed and dozens of others were injured in the Moscow region as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks.

The Investigative Committee accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of carrying out terrorist attacks against civilian facilities. The authority has launched a criminal investigation.

A Wildberries warehouse was also hit in the city of Elektrostal, around 50 kilometres east of Moscow, injuring 57, some seriously, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said. One of the injured died at the scene.

Debris from a downed drone also struck a nursery, said Vorobyov, who published a photo of the damaged building. A fire there had been extinguished and no one was injured.

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In the area around the capital, a fire broke out at an oil depot site in the city of Noginsk, where a maternity hospital also had to be evacuated for safety reasons, he said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that between Friday evening and Saturday morning, a total of 1,892 Ukrainian drones had flown towards the Russian capital. Most had been shot down. These figures could not be independently verified.

Zelensky: Strikes a response to Russian attacks

Ukraine has been defending itself for more than four years against Russian forces, with massive Western military and financial aid. Kiev mainly uses drones for counterattacks on Russian targets.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that the strikes were carried out in response to continued Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure.

In a video posted on Telegram, Zelensky showed columns of black smoke, a drone in flight and fires, claiming that Ukrainian forces had struck two key logistics hubs in Russia's Moscow and Tambov regions, about 500 and 700 kilometres from the front line.

He said the facilities stored drone components and navigation equipment subject to Western sanctions.

Ukraine: Moscow redeploys units from the front line

Ukraine's drone forces said they had struck 13 more Russian vessels, claiming the attacks have forced Moscow to redeploy drone units from the front line to protect shipping in the Black Sea.

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Zelensky also said on Saturday that Ukrainian drone units had attacked Russian vessels in the Black Sea and the neighbouring Sea of Azov. He thanked the armed forces and intelligence services for what he called the "precise and coordinated execution" of the operations.

The head of Ukraine's drone forces, Robert Brovdi, said in a post on Telegram that the latest attacks brought the total number of Russian vessels hit in the Black Sea and the neighbouring Sea of Azov to 172.

Eight cargo ships, a tanker, a gas carrier, a tugboat and two floating cranes were struck overnight, he said on Saturday. The claims could not be independently verified.

Ukraine says the campaign is aimed at disrupting Russia's military logistics as Moscow continues its full-scale invasion.

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According to Brovdi, the weeks-long operation against Russian shipping has prompted Moscow to redeploy some of its elite Rubicon drone units from the front line to protect maritime traffic, weakening Russian forces in combat zones.

Meanwhile, Russia has not confirmed any redeployment of drone units.

The Defence Ministry in Moscow said it had struck port infrastructure and two cargo ships allegedly used to transport weapons in Ukraine's southern Odessa region. Those claims also could not be independently verified.