Ukraine drones target Russian alcohol plants, Russian officials say

Ukraine overnight drone attacks caused an explosion and a fire at an ethanol manufacturing plant and damaged two other alcohol-producing enterprises in Russia, Russian officials said.

A blast shook the Biokhim biochemical plant in Russia's Tambov region on Tuesday, sparking a short-lived fire, Tambov governor Maxim Yegorov said on the Telegram messaging app.

"According to preliminary information, there are no casualties, Yegorov said.

Russia's defence ministry said its air defence units destroyed 18 Ukrainian drones, but it did not mention Tambov in its tally.

Biokhim in the Tambov region, some 450 km (280 miles) southeast of Moscow, is one of Russia's oldest manufacturers of "products of strategic importance for the state," chiefly ethanol, according to the company's website.

The governor of the Tula region, which borders Moscow to its north, said on Tuesday that a Ukraine drone attack damaged two distilleries, in the town of Yefremov and the village of Luzhkovskyi.

There were no injuries, Tula governor Dmitry Miliayev said on Telegram, adding the situation was "under control". It was not immediately clear how big the attacks were and Miliayev did not give any further details.

Separate attack

Another Ukraine drone attack damaged a boiler house and a non-residential building in Russia's western region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, its governor said.

There were no injuries as a result of the attack, Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Kiev has often said that its air attacks inside Russia target infrastructure key to Russia's war efforts and are a response to Moscow's bombing of Ukrainian territory.