Drone Attack on Voronezh Kills Three and Injures 17, Governor Says

Three people were killed and 17 people were injured, including a child, in a drone attack on Russia's Voronezh region, according to the later toll reported on Monday, October 26. Regional governor Alexander Gusev gave the figures.

The toll moved during the morning. Reuters first reported that the attack had killed two men and injured 17 people, including a child, citing Gusev. A later report, carried by Express via EuropeSays and also reported by The Sun, put the Voronezh toll at three people killed and 17 injured. This article uses the later figure as the current toll and records the earlier Reuters figure here so the change is clear.

The overnight attack on the city

Ukrainian drones attacked the city of Voronezh overnight on October 26. Explosions and fires were reported in several parts of the city, and Russian military correspondents described the raid as one of the most intense since the war began, SFG Media reported.

Gusev wrote on the MAX messaging app that air defence systems had destroyed 113 drones over the Voronezh region, Reuters reported. The later report said more than 70 drones were shot down directly over the city of Voronezh, citing Gusev.

Fires broke out at several industrial sites in the region during the attack, Gusev said. A business centre and shopping complex tower in Voronezh was set on fire, and residential districts were seen ablaze, possibly from downed drones, according to the later report.

Reuters said it could not independently verify the governor's report.

Plants, a bridge and a damaged train

The reported targets in Voronezh included the VASO aircraft plant, which makes the president's long-haul Il-96 planes, and the Voronezhsintezkauchuk synthetic rubber plant. The strategic Northern Bridge across the Voronezh River was also attacked, according to the later report. An OSINT monitoring channel, Supernova+, reported the same three targets, as reported by UNITED24 Media. SFG Media said one target was the Voronezhsintezkauchuk plant and that another drone struck a business centre, according to preliminary reports.

A passenger train bound for Moscow from Anapa, in Russia's Krasnodar region, was damaged and five passengers were injured, Russian Railways said. Train services through Voronezh were suspended.

In a separate incident, a Ukrainian drone struck a freight train travelling from Russia to Belarus in the Bryansk region, killing the 44 year old locomotive engineer, the later report said. That death is reported as a separate incident and is not counted in the Voronezh toll in this article.

The wider night on both sides

The Russian Defence Ministry said its air forces intercepted and destroyed 290 Ukrainian drones overnight, in the period from 8:00 p.m. Moscow time on October 25 to 9:00 a.m. Russia also struck Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian Air Force said its defences destroyed or neutralised 115 Russian aerial targets overnight, including 112 drones.

The figures for drones destroyed on each side come from the Russian Defence Ministry and the Ukrainian Air Force, as reported below.