Ukraine drones target ethanol plants in Russia, Telegram channels say

Audio By Carbonatix

(Reuters) – Ukrainian drones targeted ethanol plants in Russia’s southern region of Voronezh, Russian channels on the Telegram app said, while the regional governor said the attack injured two people, sparked a fire and damaged two industrial enterprises.

Firefighters have doused the fire in the region’s Anninsky district that injured two workers, Alexander Gusev, the regional governor, said on the Telegram messaging app.

About 10 Ukrainian drones were destroyed or intercepted over the region late on Sunday, he added, with debris damaging several buildings in the district, as well as in the Novokhopersky district.

The Russian defence ministry said only one Ukrainian drone was destroyed over the Voronezh region, however, from a total of 21 downed over its territory overnight.

Explosions were heard near an ethanol spirit plant in the village of Krasnoye in the Novokhopersky district, said the Baza news channel on Telegram, which is close to Russia’s security services, as well as several other news channels on the app.

The SHOT breaking news channel said the fire broke out at a distillery in the village of Anna in Anninsky. Videos on social media showed large blaze at a building lighting up the dark.

Reuters was able to confirm the location of the social media images as the Anninsky district of the Voronezh region. The date could not be verified.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports of damage to two distilleries.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Kyiv has often said its drone attacks inside Russia target infrastructure key to the latter’s war effort, in response to Moscow’s continued strikes on Ukraine’s territory.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Clarence Fernandez)