Downed drone sparks fire in Russian region bordering Ukraine

MOSCOW, September 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) – A fire broke out in Russia’s Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine, on Saturday after a drone was shot down, triggering an explosion of incendiary devices, the local governor said on Saturday.

Russian air defense systems “detected and neutralized a drone” over Voronezh on Saturday morning, Aleksandr Gusev wrote on Telegram.

“No one was injured,” but when the drone fell, a large fire broke out, “which spread to the explosive charges and caused them to detonate,” Gusev continued, without giving details.

“Due to the fire, a decision was made to evacuate the village’s residents” to neighbouring areas, he said.

Russian Telegram channels reported that the fire broke out at a local ammunition depot.

For a month now, Russia has been facing a large-scale Ukrainian offensive in the neighboring Kursk region and has announced almost daily that it has destroyed Ukrainian drones attacking its territory.

Kiev says the drone strikes are a response to Russian bombings that have targeted military and industrial facilities there since February 2022, killing scores of civilians.