Russian city declares state of emergency after Ukraine drone attack

A state of emergency has been declared in the Russian city of Voronezh after Ukraine reportedly launched an overnight drone attack that damaged several buildings and wounded two children.

Mayor Vadim Kstenin said that some residents had been evacuated from their homes to a nearby school after debris sparked small fires and windows were shattered, adding: “The introduced state of emergency in the city will... allow for a prompt implementation of measures to replace them.”

Yelena Fedyainova, whose six-year-old boy was injured in one of the attacks, said the drones first struck on Tuesday morning at about 2.30am local time (11.30pm GMT Monday) and destroyed the window of her apartment. “There was a blow and a flash,” she said. “I grabbed the child - there were shards everywhere and smoke.”

The governor of the region, Alexander Gusev, announced that a girl aged around 10 was also injured when drone debris fell onto her apartment building. “The girl, born in 2013, suffered cut wounds to her arm, leg and neck. Medical assistance was provided at the scene,” he said in a statement.

Pictures distributed by Mr Gusev showed a blackened residential building, where the child was injured by fragments of a drone that was shot down.

The Russian defence ministry said it had destroyed five drones and intercepted three others overnight over the Voronezh region, and also intercepted four drones in the nearby Russian Belgorod region. Some of Russia’s border regions have announced voluntary evacuations over the strikes.

Voronezh, a city home to more than one million people, lies some 250 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. As the administrative centre of the region, it has a nearby air base where some Sukhoi Su-34s bombers are based. Russia often deploys these fighter-bomber aircraft during air strikes on Ukraine.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities. Kyiv has intensified its air attacks in recent months in what it says are strikes targeting Russian military infrastructure to undermine Moscow’s war efforts.

Earlier this month, Russia admitted it had accidentally bombed Voronezh but stressed there were no casualties.