Russian drone attack injures 16 in west Ukraine, knocks out power

Moscow [Russia], October 26: Falling debris from intercepted Russian drones injured 16 people in the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine and knocked out electricity to some residents after a blast near a nuclear power plant.
"In the Shepetivka district, the shooting down of air targets caused them to fall into the territory of a critical infrastructure facility," the deputy head of the regional administration, SerhiyTyurin, said on Telegram on Wednesday.
He said there was an explosion that damaged an administrative building as well as residential buildings and cars. Sixteen people from surrounding buildings were injured.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said there was an explosion not far from the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant as a result of the attacks.
The blast wave is said to have blown the windows out of several administrative buildings and damaged a power line, leaving 1,860 households without electricity.
Russian attacks were also reported overnight in the south of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Interior Minister IhorKlymenko said that the embattled Kherson region came under multiple Russian attacks, most them directed at the city of Beryslav.
A Russian guided aerial bomb killed a 42-year-old man when it hit his home in Beryslav, according to civil defence authorities.
Russia also launched 11 kamikaze drones at Ukraine during the night, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday morning, adding that all of them were shot down. With Western help, Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for 20 months.
For the past year Russia has also regularly attacked civilian targets with missiles and drones. The targets are often energy, heat and water-supply facilities for the population.
Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu paid a rare front-line visit to Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Shoigu took part in a staff meeting in the "special military operation zone," the Defence Ministry said on Telegram on Wednesday.
He received a report on the creation of specialized drone units from the battlegroup East commander, Lieutenant General Andrey Kuzmenko.
The meeting also dealt with preparations for the winter.
The Defence Ministry's statement was accompanied by a video showing Shoigu in a helicopter and later in a staff bunker. It was not clear whether the facility was actually on Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.
In the war against Ukraine, which has now lasted more than 20 months and was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, representatives of the Russian leadership have only very rarely ventured to the front - in contrast to Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky, who regularly visits.
Shoigu was last in the war zone in June.
Source: Qatar Tribune