A Ukrainian drone has sparked a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia and shelling has hit a Russian town close to the border for the third time in a week, damaging buildings and vehicles and injuring four people, Russian officials say.
A day after Russia accused Ukraine of sending drones to attack buildings in Moscow, Ukrainian artillery struck the Russian town of Shebekino about 7km north of the border with Ukraine's Kharkiv region, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.
Two people were taken to hospital and the shelling smashed windows and damaged roofs of an eight-storey apartment building, four homes, a school and other places, he said.
The governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region said a drone was the likely cause of a fire that broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery.
The fire was soon put out and there were no casualties, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram.
The Afipsky refinery is not far from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, near another refinery that has been attacked several times this month.
There was no immediate information on who launched the drone but Moscow has accused Kyiv of increased attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, while Russia has repeatedly pounded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.
The skies over Ukraine were relatively quiet on Tuesday night, with no major air raids reported.
Russian drone attacks killed one person and wounded four in Kyiv on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian officials.
The attacks inside Russia come as Ukraine prepares a counteroffensive to drive Russian forces out of territory they have occupied since their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks in Russia or on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Ukrainian drones struck wealthy districts of Moscow on Tuesday, Russia said, in what one politician called the most dangerous attack on the capital since World War II.
Kyiv was also hit from the air for the third time in 24 hours.
Air attacks by both sides have intensified as a stalemate endures on the ground with Russian forces entrenched along an extended line in Ukraine's east and south.
The Russian defence ministry said eight drones sent to Moscow by Ukraine and targeting civilians were shot down or diverted with electronic jammers, although Baza, a Telegram channel with links to the security services, said there were more than 25.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential aide, denied Kyiv was directly involved but said "we are pleased to watch events" and forecast more such strikes.
The drones targeted some of Moscow's most prestigious districts including where Russian President Vladimir Putin and other members of the elite have homes.
Putin said Ukraine's biggest drone strike on Moscow was an attempt to frighten and provoke Russia, and that air defences around the capital would be strengthened.
Civilian targets in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have since the earliest days of the war been struck repeatedly by Russian drones and missiles.
But Tuesday marked only the second time Moscow had come under direct fire.
In Washington, the White House said it was gathering information on the reports of drone strikes in Moscow.
"We do not support attacks inside of Russia," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.
Washington is a major supplier of weaponry to Ukraine on the condition it uses it to defend itself and to retake Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces.
