Ukraine launched drones at eight Russian regions overnight, hitting three electrical substations and a fuel depot, a source in Ukraine’s defence sector told AFP on Saturday.

Kyiv has ramped up strikes on Russian oil and gas facilities in recent months, part of what it calls “fair” retaliation on infrastructure used to fuel Russia’s war.

“At least three electrical substations and a fuel storage base were hit and caught fire. The target was the energy infrastructure that feeds Russia’s military-industrial complex,” the source said.

The strike was a “joint operation” of Ukraine’s SBU security service, military intelligence and armed forces, the source added.

The governor of Russia’s western Smolensk region said earlier that Ukraine had fired drones at a “fuel and energy facility” but they had been shot down.

“Air defence forces shot the aerial vehicles down. However, as a result of falling debris, a tank with fuel and lubricants caught fire,” governor Vasily Anokhin said.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Smolensk region, without going into detail.