Moscow [Russia]/Kiev [Ukraine], November 13: A fire broke out in a fuel depot in Stary Oskol, a city in the western Russian border region of Belgorod, following a Ukrainian drone attack overnight.
The fire brigade had managed to extinguish the flames, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. There were no deaths or injuries. The Russian military reported shooting down a total of 13 Ukrainian drones during the night.
Nine were intercepted in the Belgorod area, with two each in the neighbouring regions of Bryansk and Kursk, according to the military. Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has been systematically hitting civilian targets such as power stations from the air. However, Kiev has stepped up its own drone attacks, targeting not only military objects but also fuel supplies and logistics infrastructure in an effort to slow the advance of the Russian army.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his military's ongoing incursion into Russia's Kursk region is now holding down 50,000 Russian troops.
In his daily address to the nation, Zelensky said the operation was reducing Moscow's ability to attack inside Ukraine itself. The president has long cited this as the goal of the offensive, despite scepticism from some Western allies.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US non-profit, Russia had 11,000 troops in Kursk when Ukraine began its shock incursion in early August. However, a report in the New York Times suggests Moscow has achieved its troop build-up in Kursk without any need to pull its soldiers out of Ukraine.
Source: Qatar Tribune