Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
A Ukrainian missile struck a boiler plant in Russia’s Rostov Oblast overnight on Dec. 11, damaging critical infrastructure in the city of Taganrog, local Russian officials claimed.
Yury Slyusar, the acting governor of Rostov Oblast, claimed that an overnight Ukrainian missile attack struck an “industrial facility” in Taganrog, damaging the facility as well as 14 cars in the parking lot.
Taganrog Mayor Svetlana Kambulova later reported that heating supply had been disrupted in 27 apartment buildings in the city following an attack on a boiler plant within the city.
Videos posted on social media capture a series of loud explosions in Taganrog around 3:30 a.m. local time.
The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify any of the Russian claims, and Ukraine’s military has not yet commented on the alleged attack.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear, although Slyusar claimed that there were no casualties as a result of the alleged attack. No additional details were provided by Russian officials.
The alleged attack on Russian critical infrastructure comes as Russia continues to increase its onslaught of attacks against Ukrainian energy facilities, as it seeks to plunge the country into another harsh winter aimed at testing Ukrainians’ resolve.
In the most recent mass aerial attack on the country on Nov. 28, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Russia struck a “massive blow” to the nation’s power grid.
Situated on the Russia-Ukraine border, Rostov Oblast has become a regular target of Ukrainian attack since the start of the full-scale invasion.
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On Dec. 10, a Russian drone struck and severely damaged an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) service vehicle on its way to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), President Volodymyr Zelensky reported.