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Vladimir Putin’s forces launched overnight drone and missile attacks that targeted Ukraine’s eastern and southern parts as the war-hit country’s officials ordered the evacuation of an infrastructure site that was targeted.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia’s forces launched a swarm of Shahed drones from Crimea and the Black Sea in an overnight offensive on Saturday.
One of the strikes targeted an infrastructure site in the Vinnytsia region as the air force warned of the threat of ballistic missiles.
Authorities asked people to stay in shelters and said a general evacuation was not yet necessary apart from the immediate area where the strike occurred.
“At this time there is no need for a general evacuation, apart from the immediate area around the site of the hit,” said Vasyl Polishchuk, head of administration for the town of Kalynivka, according to the town’s website.
“Attack UAVs are moving in the north-west direction. A threat to the Vinnytsia region. Stay in shelters!” it said on its official Telegram channel.
The officials did not mention what target was struck and what weapon had been used.
However, regional governor Serhiy Borzov said the hit was made on an unspecified infrastructure site, a term used by Ukrainian officials to refer to facilities involved in power generation and other industries.
The governor announced an air raid alert at 1.10am local time and within an hour, he reported a strike.
An initial air raid warning for an anticipated strike was announced at 11.17pm in western Ukraine’s Vinnytsia, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad oblasts.
Ukrainian air forces issued more than 40 air raid alerts on its Telegram channels for Donetsk, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions among several other cities as Russian forced launched a massive wave of attacks overnight.
Air-raid alerts and warnings were issued throughout the night.
It warned of “the threat of using ballistic weapons in areas where the alarm has been declared”.
“Don’t Ignore Airborne Alarms! Head for cover,” read another alert around 6.30am.
On Friday evening, the air force of Ukraine’s armed forces said several groups of drones were fired from the Crimean peninsula.
