(Reuters) – Ukraine launched several drones at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, sparking a brief fire at the site and resulting in one person dying of a heart attack, local officials said on Sunday.
“The drones were neutralised, but a fire broke out as a result of the fall of one of the devices,” the operational headquarters of the region in southern Russia said on the Telegram messaging app.
The fire was extinguished and there were no casualties as a result of the fire itself, the administration said. Preliminary information indicated, however, one person had died of a heart attack, it added.
Roman Siniagovskyi, head of the Slavyansk administrative district, said on Telegram refinery workers were evacuated and there was no threat to nearby populated areas from the incident.
Separately, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two drones were destroyed near the Russian capital, with no damage or injuries reported.
Russia accuses Ukraine of using drone and missile strikes to disrupt its three-day presidential election that is set to hand President Vladimir Putin his fifth term in office. The election concludes on Sunday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not directly mention the reported intensified attacks by Kyiv forces in his nightly video address on Saturday, but he thanked his military forces and intelligence for new “long-range capabilities.”
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard and Tom Hogue)
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