Russian shelling has killed at least three civilians in four Ukrainian regions as a drone attack set a fuel depot on fire in Russia's Voronezh region, military and regional officials reported early on October 4.
In Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, two residents were killed and two others were wounded during Russia's bombardment of Stara Mykolayivka and Kreminnaya Balka, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
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In the southern region of Kherson, one person was killed and four others were wounded as the Russian military shelled 14 settlements over the past 24 hours, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
"The Russian military targeted critical infrastructure as well as residential and communal communications; residential areas sustained damage; 35 private homes were destroyed," Prokudin wrote on Telegram, adding that farm buildings, warehouses, buses, agricultural machinery, and vehicles were also damaged.
Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, reported that Russia launched 19 drones at targets in Ukraine, with nine of them being shot down by Ukrainian air-defense systems over four regions -- Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, and Kherson.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike set a large oil depot on fire in Russia's southwestern Voronezh region early on October 4, regional Governor Aleksandr Gusev reported on Telegram.
Gusev said the fire was ignited by the debris of a falling drone that had been downed by Russian air-defense systems above the depot located in the region's Anninsky district.
"An empty tank caught fire. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties. Fire crews are working on the scene," Gusev wrote.
SEE ALSO: The Week In Russia: 'So Many Red Lines'Russian Telegram channels published videos purporting to show a fire at the site of the drone crash. Telegram channel Astra, citing local residents, said that the Annanefteprodukt oil depot had been hit.
Separately, Ukraine's military confirmed the strike in a statement.
"An attack was launched on the Annanefteprodukt storage base for fuel and lubricants located near the settlement of Anna in Voronezh region," the military said, adding that Russian antiaircraft opened fire on the incoming drones.
At least one of the storage tanks was hit and set on fire, the military said.
SEE ALSO: The Fall Of Vuhledar: What It Means For Ukraine’s Beleaguered MilitaryThe latest drone exchange came as Ukrainian forces are under increasing pressure in the east, where a grinding Russian offensive has forced Kyiv's troops to abandon the strategic city of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region earlier this week after months of heavy fighting.
In his first comments since the withdrawal from Vuhledar, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the retreat was an "absolutely correct" step necessary to save lives.
Russian forces were destroying the positions of Ukrainian fighters in and around Vuhledar, Zelenskiy said on October 3 at a press conference with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Kyiv.
The withdrawal was necessary because lives "are much more important than any buildings."
Rutte's unscheduled visit came just two days after he took office, and he used it to repeat NATO's vow to maintain Western support for Ukraine as it fights to repel Russia's full-scale invasion.