Follow-Up: Ukraine Fires Nearly 1,200 Drones at Russia Overnight; Russia Claims 1,198 Downed, With 7 Killed in Three Regions

KYIV — Ukraine fired almost 1,200 drones at Russian targets overnight from Thursday into Friday, the Associated Press reported on November 13, in one of its biggest aerial attacks since Russia's full-scale invasion began nearly five years ago. The strike on an industrial zone in the Russian city of Volgograd, which GSM reported earlier today, was part of that night's barrage.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed 1,198 Ukrainian long-range drones between late Thursday and early Friday. Local officials said strikes on three Russian regions killed seven people, including a 12-year-old, and wounded 17. In Volgograd, Governor Andrei Bocharov had earlier reported that four employees of an industrial zone were killed and two injured (see the related story).

Ukraine's General Staff said its forces hit an oil refinery in Volgograd, starting a fire. The plant processes about 110 million barrels of crude a year, about 14 million tonnes, roughly 5% of Russia's refining capacity. Russia has not confirmed that the refinery was hit.

Russia struck back the same night. Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched 117 drones against Ukraine, killing at least two people, including a 17-year-old. On Friday, a single Russian attack hit two five-story apartment blocks in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, wounding 30 people, including six children, officials said. First Deputy Energy Minister Artem Nekrasov said Russian attacks on energy infrastructure caused widespread power outages across about half of Ukraine's regions.

All of the figures above come from the warring sides' defense ministries, general staffs and local officials, and have not been independently verified. The exchange came as U.S. and Russian negotiators, after two days of talks with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi, widened the agenda to the European security arrangements in place since the end of the Cold War, a change that has alarmed European leaders, the AP said.

Related:

A Ukrainian Drone Strike on an Industrial Zone in Volgograd, Russia, Kills Four People and Injures Two: Governor Andrei Bocharov Announces the Toll on November 13 and Calls It the Deadliest Attack on the City So Far

Source: Associated Press

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：乌克兰「柳特」（Liutyi）AN-196 远程打击无人机（资料图，与本稿所述为同型机）。Krzysztof Poplawski 摄，CC BY 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / Photo: A Ukrainian AN-196 Liutyi long-range strike drone (file photo of the type used in such strikes). By Krzysztof Poplawski, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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