TOKYO, May 22 (Reuters) – An emergency power outage occurred in the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye region of Ukraine on Friday, Kommersant newspaper quoted Russian-appointed governor Yevgeny Balitsky as saying.
However, he said that critical infrastructure was operating normally but did not provide further details, Kommersant newspaper reported.
Separately, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of the southern Kherson region controlled by Russian troops, said on Telegram that power grids in nine regions were cut off after drone attacks.
Russian defense systems were working to repel drone attacks on Moscow, the nearby Yaroslavl region and the northwest Leningrad region in the early hours of Friday, local authorities said on the Telegram messaging app.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that four drones bound for Moscow were shot down and emergency services were deployed to the area, without providing details. The governors of Yaroslavl and Leningrad regions said there were no casualties.
All three regions are home to large Russian energy infrastructure and were also hit by drone attacks earlier this week. The Interfax news agency quoted the Ministry of Defense as saying that Russia shot down a total of 217 drones overnight.
Ukrainian police said on Telegram that Russian shelling and drone attacks injured 11 people, including a 13-year-old boy, in the Sumy region of northern Ukraine.
Reuters could not independently verify reports of military activity.
(Reporting by Jekaterina Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Kim Coghill and Kate Mayberry)
