Russia Reports Downing 11 Ukrainian Drones in Rostov

Russia said Monday it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack in the Rostov area of southwestern Russia, while a fire at a power plant in the region disrupted service.

The Russian defense ministry said its air defenses shot down all 11 Ukrainian drones involved in the attack.

Vasily Golubev, the regional governor in Rostov, said on Telegram there was a fire at the Novocherkassk power plant, causing two of its power units to be temporarily taken out of operation.

OGK-2, the plant’s operator, reported on casualties from the incident and said equipment at the plant was being assessed.

Ukraine’s air force issued multiple warnings overnight for Russian missile and drone attacks.

Ukraine’s military said Monday its air defenses shot down eight of nine attack drones that Russia used to target Ukraine overnight.

The Ukrainian air force said the intercepts took place over the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, reported damage to energy infrastructure, and he said some of the area had no electricity service.

Ukraine’s top energy producer DTEK said on Telegram that a Russian attack had damaged a high-voltage power facility. The company said that while service to critical facilities was restored Monday, emergency shutdowns with limited service in the region would be in effect.

The attack was the latest by Russia damaging Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including a wave of attacks since Friday that pushed Ukraine’s energy ministry and distributors to halt energy exports and increase imports of electricity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday that his country’s air defenses require “significant strengthening” as Ukraine faces repeated Russian aerial attacks.

“Over the past week, from Monday to today, Russian terrorists have used nearly 190 missiles of various types and almost 140 ‘Shahed’ drones. Also, they launched almost 700 guided aerial bombs. There has not been a single week in the more than two years of this war when Russia refrained from terror,” he said.

The country’s energy ministry and distributors said Ukraine ramped up imports of electricity and halted exports Sunday after the recent spate of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure since Friday, in which Ukraine’s top energy producer, DTEK, lost 50% of its capacity.

Poland said Sunday it would demand that Russia explain “a new violation of airspace” after a Russian missile strayed briefly into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine.

The incident on Sunday prompted the NATO member to activate F-16 fighter jets.

The head of Kyiv’s military administration said that Russia used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers. It wasn’t immediately clear if Russia intended for a missile to enter Poland’s airspace. The missile breached the NATO country’s airspace by about two kilometers Sunday morning before returning to Ukraine, according to a spokesperson for the Polish army.

“Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces … of the Russian Federation,” the army said on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, “The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow [Lublin province] and stayed for 39 seconds.”

“Above all, we ask the Russian Federation to end its terrorist airstrikes against the population and territory of Ukraine, to end the war and to focus on the country’s own internal problems,” foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said, according to Reuters.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.