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Ukrainian Drones Strike Shopping Center in Russia

7:21 AM ETConfirmed

World Desk

In Short: Ukrainian drones hit a shopping center in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, causing damage and casualties.

Ukrainian drones struck the MegaGRINN shopping and entertainment complex in Belgorod, Russia, on Saturday, Oct. 24, according to the Kyiv Post. The attack caused significant structural damage to the facility, which spans approximately 163,000 square meters and houses over 200 retail outlets, restaurants, and leisure venues.

Local officials and eyewitness footage posted to social media confirmed the attack, which also affected residential homes and parked vehicles in the area. The Kyiv Post reported that 25 drones engaged central Belgorod, inflicting damage on the closed MegaGRINN commercial complex.

The attack resulted in one civilian death and 14 injuries, according to authorities. The city of Belgorod lies just 34 kilometers from Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia and approximately 70 kilometers from Kharkiv.

Concurrently, Ukrainian forces targeted key military-industrial facilities and an aviation base inside Russia overnight Friday-Saturday, confirming direct hits on the Proton-Elektroteks plant in Oryol, the Tolyattikauchuk industrial plant in Samara region, and an aircraft stationed at the Yeysk airfield.

The Kyiv Post reported that long-range strike drones also struck the “Omsky Kauchuk” chemical enterprise and industrial infrastructure in the Siberian city of Omsk, igniting a major fire across the manufacturing complex.

The attacks coincided with a systemic blackout that plunged large swathes of Russian-occupied Crimea into darkness overnight into Saturday, Oct. 24. This marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict, with both Moscow and Kyiv stepping up attacks after the deadliest summer since 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was the main target, but other areas were also hit, with about 100 people injured. Meanwhile, Russian forces were described as 'destroying' key frontline towns with intense aerial bombardments.

Despite Russia making life in Kyiv increasingly tough, some residents said they were not going anywhere, mocking Russia's territorial claims.

Moscow claimed its air defenses downed 505 Ukrainian drones overnight, while the Kyiv Post reported that Ukrainian drones struck a chemical plant producing fuel for Russian cruise missiles, an oil depot near the border region of Belgorod, and infrastructure in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow.

Background

What's confirmed

• KYIV: Russian and Ukrainian strikes killed at least 16 people over the last 24 hours, both countries said Saturday, with the war still raging in its fifth year.
• Both Moscow and Kyiv have stepped up attacks after the deadliest summer since 2022 — the year Russia launched its invasion, starting Europe’s worst war since World War Two.

What's still developing

• “Under the rubble, rescuers found the bodies of two young girls — born in 2004 and 2006,” he said on Telegram, adding that a man had also been killed in the same area.
• "They have already postponed the deadlines for reaching the oblast's administrative borders 15 times," Deputy Presidential Office head Pavlo Palisa said.
• Saratov is located approximately 460 kilometers (285 miles) east of the Ukrainian border with Russia, near Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
• And Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, who on Saturday night defended his heavyweight world titles in a fight against Dutchman Rico Verhoeven in Egypt, said: "I know right now, Ukrainian people are sitting in the bomb shelter, my daughter too, in a bomb shelter, sent me a message saying: 'Papa, I love you, you will win."
• Russia's defence ministry said it did not carry out strikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, but that command posts of Ukraine's ground forces and the defence ministry's main intelligence directorate were hit.
• "They don't have enough land," he said, mocking Russia -- the world's largest country.
• A Yandex data center in Kaluga was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, marking the second consecutive day that the Russian technology company’s data centers have come under attack, RBC-Russia reported, citing the company’s press service.
• Russia once again struck Ukraine from eight directions at once—attack drones flew all night, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
• Kyiv time on September 20, Russia attacked Ukraine with 172 Shahed and Gerbera strike drones.
• There, two high-rise buildings, a shopping center, an educational institution, and a university building were damaged.
• Russia’s defense ministry said earlier it had downed 104 Ukrainian drones over western regions including Kursk and Bryansk, with smaller numbers intercepted over Smolensk, Tver, Belgorod and elsewhere.

Sources

• Reuterslink
• Kyiv Postlink
• Kyivindependentlink
• Arabnewslink
• Kyivindependentlink
• BBClink
• Englishlink
• Kyivpostlink
• Newsukrainelink
• Thedefensepostlink
• WarpBeat — background on Two Killed in Drone Attack on Saudi Airport link
• WarpBeat — background on Russian Missile and Drone Attack Kills Nine in Kyiv link
• Wikipedia — background on Belgorod Oblast link
• Times Now World — video link