Overnight Ukrainian air attacks leave parts of southern Russia without power

An overnight Ukrainian air attack has disrupted electricity supplies and damaged infrastructure in Russia’s Rostov region, according to local authorities.

The regional governor, Yury Slyusar, said the attack late on December 19 affected the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog, as well as the Kuibyshevsky, Matveyevo-Kurgansky and Rodionovo-Nesvetaysky districts.

He said there were no immediate reports of casualties, but infrastructure damage was recorded. In Rostov-on-Don, a high-voltage power line was severed, leaving residential buildings in two districts without electricity. A fire broke out in an outbuilding on Sholokhov Avenue, covering an area of about 10 square metres, but was later extinguished.

In Taganrog, officials reported damage to windows and roofs at five private homes, while three cars caught fire. Power supplies were also disrupted in the hamlet of Nedvigovka in the Myasnikovsky district and in the village of Zaymo-Obryv in the Azov district.

Separately, authorities in the central Russian city of Oryol said a Ukrainian attack had damaged a municipal infrastructure facility. The regional governor, Andrey Klychkov, noted that brief interruptions to heating, electricity and hot water supplies were recorded in the city’s Sovetsky district.

Emergency repair crews have been deployed, he added. No injuries were reported, and officers from the emergency services and law enforcement agencies were sent to the scene.

Earlier, residents of Oryol reported hearing several loud explosions over the city, with local media citing reports of a fire and a column of smoke in one district. Power outages were also reported in several residential buildings.

By Aghakazim Guliyev