AP image The Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that Kyiv carried out a drone and missile strike deep inside Russian territory overnight, hitting an industrial site in the Udmurt Republic and a gas processing plant in Samara.According to Ukrainian authorities, the Votkinsk site in Udmurtia, located about 1,400 km from Ukraine, produces intercontinental and short-range ballistic missiles, including Iskander missiles used against Ukrainian targets. The strike injured 11 people, three of whom were hospitalized, local health minister Sergei Bagin said in a Telegram post, as reported by Reuters. “One of the republic’s facilities was attacked by drones. The strike caused injuries and damage,” regional head Alexander Brechalov said on Telegram.Unofficial Russian sources, including Telegram channels Astra and SHOT, reported that the attack targeted the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a major state-owned defense enterprise. Residents described hearing at least three blasts and observing drones overhead. Video footage circulated online showed black smoke rising from industrial buildings and shattered windows.Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, said operations at the main airport in Izhevsk and other nearby airports were temporarily suspended early Saturday.The strike comes days after US-brokered peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Geneva ended with no breakthrough. Ukraine is marking nearly four years since the Russian invasion and the latest round of negotiations was described as largely unproductive, according to news agency AP. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched 120 drones and one ballistic missile overnight targeting Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian forces intercepted 106 drones, while the missile and 13 drones hit 11 locations, causing damage and injuries.Oleh Kiper, governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region, said that civilian and energy infrastructure were damaged, including a secondary school and energy company warehouses. Two people were injured in the strikes. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that tens of thousands of Odesa residents were left without heating and running water due to ongoing attacks and he called on Moscow to be held accountable.In a separate development, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that Ukrainian forces have used data from the messaging app Telegram for military purposes, endangering Russian troops. The FSB said it obtained “numerous reliable reports” of threats to service members, although no specific evidence was cited.Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a law allowing mobile operators to block internet services at the FSB’s request. Roskomnadzor, the communications regulator, also plans further restrictions on Telegram, which remains widely used by soldiers, prompting criticism from military bloggers.Since the start of the war, Russia has methodically restricted access to major platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Analysts said that these measures are aimed at controlling information flow and military communications amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
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