Regional Governor Roman Basurgin: Ukraine drone attack in Russia’s Saratov region restricted flights, injured one

Homes were damaged and flights restricted in Russia’s Saratov region as a result of Ukraine’s drone attack on Monday in which a woman was also wounded, Russian officials and news agencies said.

A residential complex in the city of Saratov was damaged by falling debris from drones destroyed by Russia’s air defence systems, regional governor Roman Basurgin said on the Telegram messaging app.

“A woman was hospitalised in serious condition,” Basurgin said. “Doctors are fighting for her life.”

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems destroyed nine drones over the Saratov region, which lies some 900 kilometres (560 miles) away from the border with Ukraine.

Russia’s RIA news agency reported that flights were restricted at the regional Saratov airport, citing the airport’s press service.

Earlier, Basurgin said emergency services had fanned out at affected sites in Saratov and Engels, key cities in the region several hundred kilometres southeast of the capital.

Russia has a strategic bomber military base in Engels that Ukraine has attacked numerous times since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in Feb. 2022.

There was no immediate information on damage at the base, or the scale of the Ukrainian attack on the region, which is several hundred kilometres away from the border with Ukraine.

Video posted on Telegram by the Russian news SHOT channel showed what it identified as a high-rise residential building in Saratov, with a damaged side and several windows blown out across three floors.

In Engels, the top floor of a residential building was damaged, it added.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks, which they say aim to destroy infrastructure key to war efforts.