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Ukraine struck a heat and power station in the Moscow region Sunday with drones, triggering a major fire and cutting off heating for thousands in one of Kyiv's biggest attacks to date on a power station deep inside Russia.In the fourth year of the deadliest European conflict since World War Two, Russia has been pummelling Ukraine's electricity and heat infrastructure while Kyiv has up until now mostly focused on trying to knock out Russia's oil refineries, crude terminals and pipelines. But early Sunday, Ukrainian drones struck the Shatura Power Station, about 120km east of the Kremlin, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said.Video footage on Telegram showed balls of flames and black smoke rising into the night sky from the power station. Reuters was able to confirm the location, though not the date of the video. "Some of the drones were destroyed by air-defence forces. Several fell on the territory of the station.A fire broke out at the facility," Vorobyov said. Vorobyov said that backup power had been switched on and that mobile heating systems were being deployed to the area where the temperature was around freezing point. "All efforts are being taken to promptly restore heat supply," Vorobyov said. The town of Shatura has a population of about 33,000.One local resident said that there was no heating. Three transformers at the power station caught fire, the *Kommersant newspaper cited the emergencies ministry as saying. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.In recent weeks and months, there have been repeated power and heat outages in parts of Ukraine due to Russian attacks. Ukraine has tried to undermine Russia's war economy by targeting its oil revenues.Ukraine has also hit some power and heating installations in Ukrainian regions controlled by Russian forces and in Russian regions neighbouring Ukraine, but has thus far not inflicted major damage on electricity and heat stations serving Moscow and the surrounding region, which has a population of more than 22mn.Russia's defence ministry said Sunday it had downed 75 Ukrainian drones, including 36 over the Black Sea and several over the Moscow region. Russia's Vnukovo airport halted flights Sunday for about an hour before restoring them. The Shatura power station, one of Russia's oldest, was founded under Vladimir Lenin after the Bolshevik revolution, and used to run on peat. It now uses mostly natural gas.

Russia and Ukraine traded claims on Wednesday over the downing of military drones, as the conflict between the two countries continues unabated since Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian authorities said their air defense systems had shot down 61 Russian drones across northern, southern, and eastern regions of the country.Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that its air defense forces had destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones over several areas during the previous night.Reports from both sides regarding the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine have frequently contradicted each other, particularly in terms of battlefield developments.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had killed 1,165 Ukrainian soldiers and shot down 116 drones. In a statement, the ministry reported strikes on Ukrainian positions across 147 locations along the front lines, claiming damage to armored vehicles, artillery systems, ammunition depots, and electronic warfare stations.It also said Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure and railway cars used to transport Ukrainian troops to the Donbas region, as well as facilities involved in the production and launch of long-range drones and storage sites for unmanned boats.Since the start of the war on Feb. 24, 2022, both Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily battlefield updates, often asserting gains or repelling attacks. These claims are difficult to independently verify due to the ongoing conflict.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine confirmed that a humanitarian convoy operated by the international organization came under attack by Russian drones while delivering aid to a frontline area in southern Ukraine. Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, strongly condemned the incident, saying that two World Food Programme (WFP) trucks were damaged after being struck by drones. He added that no casualties were reported among humanitarian personnel. Schmale emphasized that attacks targeting humanitarian operations represent a grave breach of international humanitarian law and could constitute war crimes, reiterating the need to ensure the safety of aid workers and civilians in conflict zones. He further noted that since the start of the conflict, humanitarian convoys have repeatedly encountered security risks while attempting to deliver vital assistance to areas near the frontlines.

Russia and Ukraine have each claimed to have intercepted dozens of drones overnight, in the latest exchange of aerial attacks in the war that has now entered its fourth year. Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Monday that its air defence systems had downed 103 Ukrainian drones across several regions. The ministry stated that 40 of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed over the annexed Crimean Peninsula, 26 over the Astrakhan region, and 19 over the Black Sea. Additional drones were reported intercepted over the Rostov region (14), the Sea of Azov (2), and one each over Belgorod and Kalmykia. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that its forces had shot down 69 out of 82 drones launched by Russia during an overnight assault targeting the country's north, east, and south. The type of drones used in the attacks was not specified by either side. Both nations have increasingly relied on drones for reconnaissance and long-range strikes, with drone warfare becoming a defining feature of the conflict. Since Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022, both sides have regularly issued claims of successful interceptions and repelled attacks. However, independent verification remains difficult due to the ongoing hostilities and limited access to frontline areas.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged reports of downing drones, in a continuation of the conflict between the two sides that has been ongoing since February 2022. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported Sunday that its air defense systems destroyed 32 Ukrainian drones overnight. For its part, Ukrainian authorities announced that, according to preliminary data, air defense forces downed 103 drones in the north, east, and south of the country. Since the beginning of the war, which has entered its fourth year, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged almost daily reports confirming that each side has repelled attacks from the other side, without verifying these data from an independent source, given the circumstances of the ongoing war.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged statements on Wednesday regarding the interception of drones, as hostilities between the two countries continue. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its air defense systems had intercepted 53 Ukrainian drones overnight across several provinces. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported, based on preliminary data, that air defense forces had shot down 154 drones over northern, southern, eastern, and central Ukraine. Since the outbreak of the war in February 2022, both sides have issued near-daily reports claiming to have repelled attacks by the other. Due to the circumstances of the ongoing conflict, these claims cannot be independently verified.

Russian air defenses intercepted several Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital Moscow early Tuesday, in the second such incident within 24 hours. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a post on social media that emergency service specialists were working at the site where debris had fallen. In Tula Region, south of Moscow, Russian authorities reported the destruction of four Ukrainian drones overnight, adding that no casualties or damage to buildings or infrastructure had been recorded. Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev also said that Russian air defense forces had shot down several drones in two areas of the region, with no injuries reported, according to preliminary information. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that a total of 184 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over various regions of the country during the past night. Since the start of the conflict in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily reports of attacks and counterattacks, which remain difficult to verify independently due to the ongoing hostilities and wartime conditions.

Ukraine launched a large barrage of drones for a second night in a row at Russia, which said Tuesday it had shot down 184 of the projectiles.The majority of the drones were intercepted over the border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.On Monday Russia said it had intercepted 251 drones, one of Kyiv's largest retaliatory attacks that left two people dead.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that its air defense systems shot down 251 Ukrainian drones overnight. In a statement, the Ministry said that air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 251 Ukrainian drones, and that its forces shot down 40 of them over Crimea, in addition to 62 over the Black Sea. Dozens of additional drones were shot down over the Kursk and Belgorod regions. For its part, Ukrainian forces announced carrying out strikes targeting Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities. Since the outbreak of the war in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily reports claiming to have repelled attacks by the other side. Due to the conditions of the ongoing conflict, these claims cannot be independently verified.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had taken control of a town in eastern Ukraine and killed 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers, while also downing 145 drones. In a statement, the ministry said Russian troops had captured the town of Kuzminivka in the Donetsk region and targeted Ukrainian forces across 137 combat zones. The strikes reportedly destroyed dozens of armored vehicles, cars, artillery units, ammunition depots, and electronic warfare stations. Russian warplanes, drones, missile units, and artillery also targeted energy infrastructure supporting Ukraine's military-industrial complex, mobile equipment used to transport weapons by rail, fuel supply centers, and facilities for storing and launching long-range drones and missile platforms, the ministry added. Since the war began on Feb. 24, 2022, both Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily reports claiming battlefield gains or repelling enemy attacks. These claims cannot be independently verified due to the ongoing conflict and restricted access to combat zones.

Ukraine said Sunday that Russia pounded the country with "hundreds" of drones and missiles overnight, wounding at least 10 people, as neighbouring Poland scrambled jets to secure its airspace. The attacks came after Russia warned NATO against taking sterner action in response to alleged incursions into airspace covered by the military alliance.They also followed the revelation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Kyiv had received a US-made Patriot air defence system from Israel for use against Russian assaults. "Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said on X."Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties," he said. He posted footage of flames bursting from the windows of a multi-storey apartment block, which Sybiga said was as a result of the attack.Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that the Ukrainian capital was under a "massive" assault and urged people to stay in shelters. He said at least six people had been wounded "as a result of the enemy's attack", five of whom were treated in hospital and one at the scene.The governor of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region said Russian strikes there had wounded at least four people.Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, accused Moscow of waging a "war against civilians". "There will be a response to these actions. But the West's economic blows against Russia must also be stronger," Yermak said.Poland's armed forces said on X that they had scrambled fighter jets in its airspace and put ground-based air defence systems on high alert in response to the Russian strikes in Ukraine.The moves were preventive and aimed at securing Polish airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas close to Ukraine, the forces said. 'They will regret it'In recent weeks, several European countries have accused Russia of violating their airspace with drones and fighter jets, in what NATO has viewed as a test of its resolve.Russia has denied that it is responsible for the incursions or that it plans to attack any NATO nation.Speaking during an address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Moscow's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said "any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response".Speaking later to reporters, Lavrov said that if any country downs objects still within Russian airspace, "they will very much regret it".After returning from his own trip to New York, where he also addressed the UN, Zelensky told reporters that "the Israeli (Patriot) system is operating in Ukraine", adding that Kyiv would receive two more this autumn.While initially neutral in the conflict, Israel's ties with Moscow have cooled as Russia has drifted closer to Iran and condemned Israel's war in Gaza.Kyiv and Moscow also said on Saturday that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant -- Europe's largest -- had been off the grid for four days, stoking fears of a potential nuclear incident.