A partial evacuation has been ordered in the Russian region of Tver after a “massive” attack by a Ukrainian airliner sparked a fire there, the local governor said.
Igor Rudenya said emergency services in the town of Toropets were trying to “locate” the flames caused by the crash of the drone. He did not say if there were any casualties.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed images have emerged showing a huge explosion in the city. A video circulating on social media showed the explosion and smoke covering the sky.
AFP and Reuters news agencies quoted Ukrainian sources as saying that an ammunition depot had been hit.
The head of the Center for Counting Disinformation of Ukraine, Andriy Kovalenko, said in Telegram that in addition to its weapons such as Grad rockets and various missiles, Russia has started to store North Korean missiles in Toropets.
None of these claims have been confirmed by the BBC.
Toropets lies about 380km (236 miles) northwest of the Russian capital Moscow, and about 470 kilometers north of the border with Ukraine.
On Wednesday morning, the Toropets authorities said that the buses had already been prepared for people to leave.
They also said that the situation is “under control” in the town of about 13,000 people.
Authorities did not say how many people were being evacuated.
Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that regional schools and kindergartens will be closed on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported that it destroyed 54 planes that were attacked overnight in five regions of Russia – Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Smolensk and Belgorod.
Governor of Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov said four civilians were injured in a “drone attack on a minibus” in the city of Shebekino.
Ukraine has not commented on the reported attack.
Suddenly, Ukrainian jets were engaging Russian jets that were flying towards the capital Kyiv, said Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military.
There were also reports of an explosion in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, near the Russian border, and later the shooting of 16 regional officials. However, the authorities were forced to use backup power systems after the power infrastructure exploded several times.
In all, Ukraine’s military said it shot down 46 of the 52 drones launched by Moscow across the country overnight. Local authorities say one person died in central Kirovohrad, and a 90-year-old woman was injured in Kropyvnytskyi.
The claims by both Russian and Ukrainian officials have never been independently verified.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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