Massive Drone Strike Sparks Evacuations in Russia’s Lipetsk

Russia has begun evacuating people from the western Lipetsk region after Friday’s "massive” Ukrainian drone attack sparked explosions, power disruptions, and injured six people.

Lipetsk is located about 460 km south of Moscow and roughly 300 km from Ukraine's eastern border.

Regional governor Igor Artamonov declared a state of emergency and ordered the evacuation of four villages, including those near a sensitive air force base, as a precautionary measure.

A blaze erupted at a military airfield near Lipetsk, a city of approximately 500,000 residents, according to reports from Russia's state-run news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS. The airbase reportedly houses Russian fighters such as Su-34s, MiG-29s, Su-25s and rarely, even Su-57s.

An ammunition depot was hit, and local residents recorded the sounds of planes leaving the airbase, as per unofficial reports.

Artamonov dismissed calls for a city-wide evacuation as "Ukrainian psychological warfare," but confirmed that explosions had occurred "far from civilian buildings" and damaged a local power facility. He confirmed at least six people were injured.

The incident comes on the heels of intense battles in the neighboring Kursk region, where Russia claimed to have repelled a cross-border raid by 1,000 Ukrainian troops on August 6. Unconfirmed reports suggest a buildup of Ukrainian forces along the border with Russia's Belgorod region, located just south of the ongoing offensive Kursk.