Ukrainian drones strike southern Russia, Crimean port

One person died and several others were injured during separate Ukrainian drone attacks reported by Russian authorities on Friday, targeting southern Russia and the Crimean peninsula.

Two people were injured in a strike on an oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, the state news agency TASS reported, citing the regional crisis response centre. The fire had been extinguished, it said.

Another drone attack in the region caused damage to the bus station in the town of Yuzhny and an industrial plant in the city of Krasnodar.

One boiler house worker was killed and at least four people were injured by falling drone debris, according to the report.

According to media reports, facilities at the local airbase in the city of Yeysk were on fire. Russia uses this base for conducting airstrikes against Ukraine.

Drones were also observed over the town of Afipsky near Krasnodar, where a refinery is located.

The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the attacks targeted refineries in Yeysk, Afipsky, Krasnodar, and Astrakhan, as well as arsenals containing Russian combat drones.

A total of 114 Ukrainian drones were shot down in the combined attacks, 70 of them over Crimea and the Sea of Azov alone, the Ministry of Defence in Moscow said.

Several Ukrainian remote-controlled boats with explosives were also reportedly destroyed.

The information could not be independently verified.

Previously, the Russian side has omitted to confirm actual damage in attacks that it claimed to have repelled.

On this occasion, drones targeting the Crimean port city of Sevastopol were successfully downed, according to the Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.

A drone was also reportedly shot down over Russia's southern Volgograd region, which is far away from Ukraine.

For its part, Russia targeted Ukraine with four cruise missiles overnight but all of them were intercepted, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Friday.

The Netherlands, along with another country, will provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defence system, Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced on Friday, according to the Dutch news agency ANP.

Ollongren did not name the second country, adding that the announcement should be made by the other country itself.

The Netherlands will deliver the second Patriot system to Kiev this week, following the handover of one by Romania.

Ollongren urged European partner countries to also provide parts for Ukraine's air defence system.

Air defence is crucial for Ukraine as it is the only way to protect itself from continuous air attacks by Russia.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. Kiev has since received extensive military aid from Western allies to maintain its defensive campaign.

In an attempt to disrupt Russian military supplies, Ukraine also began to attack targets on Russian territory, especially oil refineries and transport infrastructure.

With Western help, the country has also significantly expanded its own drone production.