Ukraine drone attacks on Russia spark fires, disrupt traffic, officials say

KYIV/ISTANBUL: Ukraine’s overnight drone attacks on Russia’s Kursk and Voronezh regions sparked residential fires and disrupted traffic on a major highway, regional officials said early on Monday.

Russian air defence units destroyed a total of 162 Ukrainian drones overnight, downing 57 of the air weapons over the Kursk region that borders Ukraine.Falling debris from destroyed drones in the Kursk region sparked fires at several houses and damaged private apartments, acting governor of the region, Alexander Khinshtein, said on the Telegram messaging app.

In the southern Russian region of Voronezh, where Russian air units destroyed 16 Ukrainian drones, regional governor Alexander Gusev said drone debris cut through power lines which fell on the M-4, a major expressway.

A small section of the highway, which links the cities of Moscow, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar, was closed, Gusev said. Falling drone debris also damaged the facade of several houses, he added on Telegram.

There were no injuries reported, the governors of the regions said.The attacks come as both Russia and Ukraine are about to meet for a round of peace talks, trying to find a way to end the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour more than three years ago.