Russian villages lose power after Ukraine drone strike

Several villages in Russia's Kursk region bordering Ukraine lost power on Tuesday morning after a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on an electricity substation, the region's governor said.

Since Russia launched hostilities against Ukraine last year, Russian regions bordering Ukraine have repeatedly accused Kyiv's forces of attacking civilian infrastructure, including the power grid.

"In the morning, a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device on an electricity substation in the village of Snagost in Korenevsky District. Seven settlements were left without power," Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit said.

"None of the residents were injured. Emergency crews will start restoring power as soon as the situation allows," he added.

Snagost is a small village about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Ukrainian border.

"We see that this practice of drone strikes against civilian infrastructure continues," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"The vast majority of these drones can be destroyed and neutralized," he said.

Attacks on Russian territory, which were rare at the beginning of the offensive, have intensified in recent months.

The attack comes four days after Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal warned Russia had renewed attacks on Ukraine's own energy infrastructure, which suffered major outages last year after Russian attacks.