Ukraine targets Russian industrial hub in Siberia

Most of the drones were intercepted by air defenses, Omsk Region Governor Vitaly Khotsenko has said Ukrainian drones have targeted a major industrial hub in the Siberian city of Omsk, as Kiev carried out another UAV raid inside Russia.

Omsk Region Governor Vitaly Khotsenko confirmed the attack on Thursday, saying Russian air defenses had intercepted most of the incoming UAVs.

“One drone reached the northern industrial hub.

Emergency services are working at the scene,” he wrote on Telegram, without providing details regarding any casualties or damage.

The northern industrial hub is home to several major petrochemical facilities, including the Omsk Oil Refinery, Russia’s largest.

The area was previously targeted by Ukrainian drones in July, when several UAVs reached the site.

Operated by Gazprom Neft, the refinery has an annual processing capacity of more than 20 million tons of crude oil and is located approximately 2,500km from the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Read more Child killed in Ukrainian strike on Russia’s Belgorod Region – officials Kiev has ramped up its long-range UAV attacks on energy facilities and civilian targets inside Russia amid continued setbacks on the battlefield in recent months.

On Wednesday, a child was killed and four other civilians were wounded in a strike on Belgorod Region, according to local authorities.

Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said that Ukrainian attacks took the lives of 29 civilians, including two children, and wounded another 206 between September 28 and October 4.

Moscow has repeatedly described Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets as acts of terrorism.

The Russian Defense Ministry has vowed to intensify strikes on Ukraine’s military and military-industrial facilities and related infrastructure in response to Vladimir Zelensky’s threats to expand attacks on oil refineries.

The ministry has since reported large-scale strikes on Ukrainian facilities involved in producing and storing long-range weapons, including sites linked to the domestically developed FP-5 Flamingo missile.