(Reuters) – Eyewitness video released on Sunday showed a huge fire and thick smoke rising from an industrial facility after what the governor of the Russian region of Saratov said was a Ukrainian drone attack.
At least one person had died and the industrial facility was damaged as a result of the attack, regional governor Roman Busargin said on Sunday, via a post on the Telegram messaging app about the overnight strike.
Busargin did not specify what kind of industrial site was damaged.
Reuters was able to independently verify the location with the buildings, road layout, streetlights, and towers seen in the video that matched the file and satellite imagery of the area. Reuters was not able to independently verify the date when the video was filmed. However, Busargin confirmed the attack on the region in a Telegram post. A large heat signature was also registered by NASA FIRMS (Fire Information Resource Management system) on Sunday in the area.
Ukrainian fighter, drones shot down
Russia said on Saturday it shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet and hundreds of drones over the past day, while Ukraine claimed to have launched drone attack on a Russian logistics hub.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces launched strikes on Ukrainian production workshops, remote drone control points, and temporary deployments in 142 areas. Russian air defenses shot down one Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet and 457 fixed-wing drones, Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
Russian troops also took control of a settlement in the Donetsk region, said the ministry.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said on the same day that it launched a long-range drone strike targeting a logistics hub in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. The Ukrainian side claimed the hub was located approximately 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine, storing Russian attack drones and their components. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense emphasized that it would continue to strike Russian military targets deep within Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media platform on Saturday that he talked with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and French President Emmanuel Macron, respectively, to coordinate positions on the recent multi-party diplomatic activities regarding the ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky said that Ukraine has not seen a shift in Russia's stance, calling on its partner countries to commit to common security and oppose "trading Ukrainian territory for peace".
He stressed that all measures should be aimed at promoting a genuine ceasefire rather than resuming hostilities, and that joint decisions with partner countries must be committed to common security.
The Russian news agency TASS reported on Saturday that Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet in Alaska on Aug 15. In response, Zelensky said that Ukraine is willing to accept a real peaceful solution but will not make concessions on the territorial issue.
Macron said on social media on the same day that France will strengthen coordination with its European partners and continue to support Ukraine. He said that Europe must be involved in the "solution" to the Ukrainian crisis with its own security at stake.