Ukraine Says Destroyed Drone Storage Base in South Russia

Ukraine said Wednesday its forces had destroyed a military facility storing hundreds of attack drones in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.

Social media videos purported to have been taken in the region showed a large fireball erupt into the night sky and a burst of flaming embers.

The Ukrainian military said on Telegram it had “attacked a Shahed drone storage base near Oktyabrsky in the Krasnodar region of Russia… about 400 attack drones were stored there.”

“The destruction of the Shahed drone storage base will significantly reduce the ability of the Russian occupiers to terrorize civilians in Ukrainian cities and villages,” it added.

The Krasnodar region lies east of the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Ukrainian-held areas of the frontline.

The “Shahed” is an Iranian-designed kamikaze drone that Moscow has used extensively throughout its two-and-a-half year invasion of Ukraine.

Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian army’s report.

Local authorities in the Krasnodar region said that a “warehouse fire” had broken out in Oktyabrsky, spanning an area of about 800 square meters.

“According to preliminary data, there were no casualties,” the Krasnodar region’s operational headquarters said on Telegram.

Fire crews were scrambled to deal with the fire and the surrounding area has been cordoned off, as some nearby vegetation caught alight, it said.