Yesterday, two people were killed, and 17 are reportedly injured following a drone strike on Voronezh, a city in southwestern Russia.
Drone debris also damaged one passenger train.
Ukraine Drone. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Shahed Drone from Ukraine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Hundreds of miles away in Russia’s Sverdlovsk Region, seven tanks caught fire in a separate incident after a freight train derailed.
Russian authorities have not publicly linked the incidents, which occurred in the early hours of Monday. Still, the Emergency Situations Ministry has since said 39 railcars derailed, up from the 20 initially reported.
25-Story Business Center Damaged
The attack, which was carried out some 200 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, allegedly prompted fires in residential buildings, a business center, and industrial sites
Independent news site Astra identified one of the struck buildings as a 25-story commercial center called Galereya Chizhova on Voronezh’s Koltsovskaya Street.
Images and videos showed residential buildings damaged on Arkhitektora Troitskogo Street and Uritskogo Street.
At least 10 parked cars also caught fire in other parts of the city.
Governor Alexander Gusev said a man born in 1960 and another in 1973 had died.
“Unfortunately, two people were killed,” he announced.
A child and 16 others were wounded.
Two were seriously injured.
Facades and windows in almost every district of the city were damaged.
Train Damaged By Debris
The state-owned Russian Railways confirmed that one car on Train No. 11 from Anapa to Moscow was damaged near Somovo station.
Russian Railways said initial data showed five passengers were injured. Gusev said many injured people were on the train when debris fell.
Services were briefly halted because of power cuts to overhead lines, and Moscow’s airports were also temporarily shut down because of the barrage.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said 290 Ukrainian drones were shot down in an overnight attack across multiple regions.
However, the governor said 113 were shot down across the Voronezh region, with “over 70” above the city.
The numbers have not been independently confirmed.
Debris was reported to have hit Russian aircraft and rubber plants.
Independent investigators and Ukrainian monitoring groups identified two potential industrial sites.
First was Voronezhsintezkauchuk, a synthetic rubber manufacturer owned by Russian petrochemical firm SIBUR.
The second was the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO), which produces parts for Russian aircraft such as the Il-96.
It has not been independently confirmed whether either of these facilities was directly hit.
Gusev acknowledged that several factories had caught fire, but said there were “no major consequences.”
He did not name the factories.
The news comes after a reported attack on Russian industrial sites, with Ukraine’s General Staff confirming an attack was carried out on the Tolyattikauchuk factory in Samara Region on October 24.
39 Railcars Derail as Seven Tanks Set Ablaze
Emergency services in Russia initially said 20 freight cars derailed on the Reshetny-Sedelnikovo section of the railway near Yekaterinburg in Sverdlovsk Region.
However, the Emergency Situations Ministry updated its report to say that “39 cars” derailed. They said seven tank cars were also ablaze.
Firefighters separated the burning cars, and a recovery train removed 54 undamaged cars.
The ministry said it had put out the open flames by 12:44 pm local time. They added that more than 300 staff were now working on the situation.
Residents said they could see explosions lighting up the area.
Russia’s consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, also said it would test the air for pollutants typical of this type of fire, Meduza reported.
There were no reported injuries, and Russian authorities are yet to attribute the incident to sabotage or Ukrainian military activity.
Kremlin: Peace Talks Will Not Stop Our Attacks
The latest incidents come as talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine are set to take place in Abu Dhabi in November.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the decision to restart trilateral negotiations “does not imply any restrictions on combat operations,” however. He added that Russia would carry on launching attacks on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday: “We’re ready to talk,” but added that: “If it’s a territorial issue, it must be addressed at a leadership level. Other issues fall within the remit of the technical groups.”
With no wider ceasefire on the horizon, it seems that attacks on infrastructure will continue into the chilly winter period, within both Russia and Ukraine.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
