Ukrainian drone strikes damage apartment blocks in Russia's Kaluga

Ukrainian drones struck the Russian city of Kaluga overnight into Saturday, damaging several apartment blocks, regional governor Vladislav Shapsha said in a post on the Max messaging app, carried by Russian news agency Interfax. Shapsha said multi-apartment buildings had been damaged in the attack and that response teams were working at the affected sites to assess the damage. He said preliminary reports pointed to injuries among residents, though he did not give a number.

Independent investigative outlet ASTRA, cited by Novaya Gazeta Europe, examined footage filmed by residents and found it showed blown-out windows and damaged balconies at several addresses across the city. ASTRA identified one of the damaged buildings as the Omega residential complex. Separate videos reviewed by the outlet showed strikes on apartment blocks along Minska Street as well.

A red-level danger alert, the highest level issued in the region, sounded several times overnight, according to ASTRA. In the early hours, residents began reporting drone activity and the sound of air-defence systems in operation, followed shortly afterwards by reports that strikes had hit multi-storey apartment buildings directly, rather than being intercepted beforehand.

In comments posted under Shapsha's statement, some residents said they had heard explosions without any air-raid siren sounding beforehand, ASTRA reported. The complaint has not been addressed by officials and has not been independently confirmed.

Shapsha said Russian air defences shot down 13 drones over the Kaluga region during the night. Russia's defence ministry separately said its forces downed 218 Ukrainian drones nationwide over the same period, a tally covering strikes reported far beyond Kaluga alone.