Ukraine launches mass drone attack on Russia

MOSCOW: Kyiv launched one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia since the war began, targeting power plants and an oil refinery overnight, while Moscow's forces made further advances towards a key town in eastern Ukraine, officials said on Sunday.

Russian air defences intercepted and destroyed 158 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over Moscow and nine over the surrounding region, the defence ministry said. Forty-six of the drones were over the Kursk region, where Ukraine has sent its forces in recent weeks in the largest incursion on Russian soil since World War II. A further 34 were shot over the Bryansk region, 28 over Voronezh region, and 14 over Belgorod region - all of which border Ukraine.

Drones were also shot down deeper into Russia, including one each in the Tver region and Ivanovo region. Russia's defence ministry said drones were intercepted over 15 regions, while one other governor said a drone was shot down over his region, too. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that falling debris from one of the two drones shot down over the city caused a fire at an oil refinery. Ukraine's strikes have brought the fight far from the front line into the heart of Russia.

In Ukraine, meanwhile, eight drones were shot down overnight out of 11 launched by Russia, according to Ukrainian air force. Fresh strikes on Kharkiv Sunday injured over 40 people, including five children, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to renew calls on allies to allow Kyiv to fire Western-supplied missiles deeper into enemy territory. Kyiv's allies are wary of how President Vladimir Putin will respond if their weapons are used against targets far inside Russian territory.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Sunday that Moscow would change its nuclear doctrine in response to the West's actions over the conflict in Ukraine, but did not specify what the changes would entail.

Meanwhile, Russia said on Sunday it had taken control of the towns of Pivnichne and Vyimka, in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Its army is also closing in on Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub for the Ukrainian defence in the area. Agencies