Russia burns as devastating 'drone strike' sets building ablaze

Russia was dealt a devastating blow after a suspected drone attack set a building in southern Russia's Rostov-on-Don ablaze on Tuesday evening. Rostov-on-Don is around 200 km (124 miles) from the closest Ukrainian-controlled territories, and has been attacked on nymerous occassions.

The bulidng reportedly struck in the latest attack is loacted near the intersection of Khalturinsky Lane and Moskovskaya Street. The block of apartments was consumed by a major fire following the drone strike, and firefighters rushed to the scene to try and extinguish the blaze. Video footage of the aftermath of the strike was later published to social media channels and shows the caranage caused by the deadly bombardment.

Towering flames and thick balck smoke billow into the night sky, visible from several kilometres away.

Rostov Region Acting Governor Yuri Slyusar confirmed the incident and claimed it was caused by falling debris from a shot down drone. "In Rostov-on-Don, a UAV crash caused an explosion and a fire on the roof of a four-story apartment building in Khalturinsky Lane," Slyusar wrote in his Telegram update just past midnight.

He added, after visiting the scene, that the fire was contained within an area of 250 square meters (2,691 square feet) with no casualties, and 15 locals were evacuated to a nearby school shelter.

Rostov and its region has been targeted repeatedly over the course of the war, due to the fact it cintains many military assets. The city is home to the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District, which commands military operations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine.

The region is also the location of airbases such as Morozovsk and Millerovo, as well as several major oil refineries.

Meanwhile, Russia stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure overnight on Tuesday, targeting a DTEK in the Donetsk region.

The attack destroyed a factory at the energy provider, "paralysing" production at the plant. In a statement to their Telegram channel, DTEK wrote: "Russia attacked the energy sector again Yesterday, the enemy struck the DTEK enrichment plant in the Donetsk region.

"The building was destroyed. The equipment was seriously damaged. Colleagues who worked on the shift survived. Rescuers extinguished the fire.

"This is not the first large-scale attack on this enterprise, which provided coal for thermal generation in Ukraine. The factory's work is currently completely paralyzed. Its enrichment capacity is unusable."