A wave of Ukrainian drone strikes across Russia overnight prompted the evacuation of a village near a missile depot in the northwestern Novgorod region, officials said Wednesday.
Air defense systems destroyed “several” drones in the village of Kotovo, located around 680 kilometers (420 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, according to Novgorod region Governor Andrei Nikitin. No one was injured in the attack, he said.
“Residents of the village have been relocated to temporary accommodation centers in the town of Okulovk. They are receiving hot meals and beds,” Nikitin wrote on Telegram, referring to a nearby town.
In an accompanying video, he said that elderly and disabled residents were hospitalized for monitoring out of an abundance of caution.
Kotovo is home to the 13th arsenal of the Russian military’s main missile and artillery directorate. Residents told media in September that some of them began leaving the town following Ukrainian strikes on similar targets in other regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that its air defense systems intercepted 44 drones overnight, including 20 over the Novgorod region.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s national security and defense council’s disinformation countermeasures center, confirmed the attack on the Kotovo arsenal. He claimed the facility stored a range of Russian missiles, including S-300 and S-400 systems.
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