Ukrainian drone strike hits power station near Moscow, causing major fire

Ukrainian drones struck the Shatura Power Station, about 120 km (75 miles) east of the Kremlin, on Sunday, Moscow region governor, Andrei Vorobyov, said.

Following the attack, a major fire broke out, forcing backup power to be switched on and mobile heating units to be deployed, according to Mr Vorobyov.

Unverified video footage on Telegram showed several bangs and then several fireballs rising into the night sky. Other news outlets have been able to confirm the location, though not the date of the video.

"Some of the drones were destroyed by air defense forces. Several fell on the territory of the station," he said, adding that a fire broke out but is now "localised".

"All efforts are being taken to promptly restore heat supply."

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The town of Shatura, where the incident occurred, has a population of about 33,000.

It is understood that the fire was caused by the three transformers at the power station, each about 65 square metres (670 square feet) in size, according to a local newspaper.

Following the incident, Mr Vorobyov said that backup power had been switched on.

He added that mobile heating systems were being deployed to the area in order to limit the impact of the freezing winter temperatures on the local population, with many households still reliant on massive Soviet-era heating stations.

There has been no immediate response from Ukrainian officials.

The attacks come after months of bombardment from Russia on Ukrainian energy and heat suppliers, with the attacks causing repeated power and heat outages in parts of Ukraine.

In retaliation, Ukraine has tried to undermine Russia's war economy by targeting its oil revenues.