KYIV, SEP 13 (AP): Russia and Ukraine intensified their aerial campaigns overnight, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to critical infrastructure on both sides.
In Russia’s Tatarstan region, Ukrainian drones struck the city of Nizhnekamsk, killing two civilians and injuring twelve more. Local officials reported that the victims died when a drone hit a tree near their parked car. Nizhnekamsk is a significant industrial hub, housing major oil refineries and petrochemical plants, and the city’s mayor confirmed that a fire broke out at one of its enterprises, though details were not disclosed.
Ukraine also claimed responsibility for a drone strike on a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia’s Krasnodar region.
According to Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, the attack damaged a key oil processing unit and the refinery’s tank farm, sparking a massive blaze visible from kilometers away.
Krasnodar authorities acknowledged injuries to three people and damage to an oil pipeline but did not directly confirm Ukrainian involvement. These strikes are part of Kyiv’s broader strategy to target Russia’s oil and gas industry, which it argues funds and fuels Moscow’s war effort.
The campaign has already caused fuel rationing across Russia, despite its role as a leading energy exporter, and has even disrupted major online retailers, bringing the war closer to everyday Russian citizens. Russia responded with a large-scale aerial assault, claiming its forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions, including Tatarstan, Krasnodar, and occupied Crimea.
At the same time, Moscow intensified attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, a vital hub for exports.
A massive nighttime strike injured at least nine civilians, according to local officials. Just a day earlier, a Russian drone hit a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring twenty-six, with the building’s upper floors completely destroyed.
Russian strikes also extended to western Ukraine, where drones hit near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland, setting fire to a petrol station, though no casualties were immediately reported.
Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of deliberately targeting the power grid and civilian infrastructure to demoralize the population ahead of winter, while Moscow continues to deploy ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to exploit Ukraine’s dwindling supply of missile interceptors. The overnight exchanges highlight the growing reliance on drone warfare, the vulnerability of energy infrastructure, and the mounting civilian toll on both sides, as the conflict increasingly blurs the line between military and civilian targets.
