Russia reports drone deaths as Ukraine hit by power outages

Moscow [Russia], January 15: Mutual drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine overnight caused casualties and damage to energy infrastructure, regional officials on both sides said on Wednesday.
In the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, four people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack, the governor of the Rostov region, Yury Slyusar, said in a post on Telegram. Fires broke out in several apartments in multi-storey residential buildings, and a man was found dead in one of the flats, he said.
Slyusar also reported two fires in the city's industrial zone. In Russia's Belgorod region, a woman was killed in the village of Zozuli in a Ukrainian drone strike, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Later, a man was killed by a drone explosion in the city of Shebekino, he added.
Russia again targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure amid freezing temperatures.
In the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, Russian forces attacked civilian infrastructure on Tuesday evening and overnight, according to the head of the city's military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul.
The strikes triggered emergency power cuts affecting about 45,000 customers, while district heating was disrupted in more than 700 buildings, Vilkul said in a Telegram post. The situation had stabilized by morning, he added.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for nearly four years. As part of its defence, Ukraine carries out strikes on targets inside Russia. The number of casualties and the scale of damage from Ukrainian attacks are far smaller than the devastation caused by Russian strikes across Ukraine.
Ukraine, in a second effort on Wednesday, named its fourth defence minister in the nearly four years since it was attacked by Russia and also approved the former defence minister to the top job at the energy ministry.
A clear majority of 277 lawmakers voted for Mykhailo Fedorov for the top defence job. On Tuesday, there were not enough lawmakers in parliament to schedule a vote. President Volodymyr Zelensky had nominated Fedorov for the role.
Federov, who will be 35 next week, has been Ukraine's digitial transformation minister since that ministry was established in 2019.
After Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022, he took on the responsibility of expanding drone production in the country.
Denys Shmyhal was appointed energy minister and first deputy prime minister after being dismissed a few days ago as defence minister with less than six months in the job. On Tuesday, he fell 16 votes short of confirmation.
Shmyhal headed the cabinet from 2020 to July 2025 as prime minister. The 50-year-old is considered loyal to Zelensky.
Current Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was first deputy and economy minister under Shmyhal.
Source: Qatar Tribune