(MENAFN- UkrinForm) According to Ukrinform, this was reported on Telegram by Andrii Kovalenko, Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

He stated that“Russia has lost the Veshkayma substation (500 kilovolts) in the Ulyanovsk region - one of the key elements of its energy system.”

This facility provided a connection between the Ulyanovsk, Mordovia, Chuvashia, and Samara regions and served as a transit hub for the transmission of electricity from the Syzran and Zhiguli hydroelectric power plants to Russia's central regions.

As the head of the Center emphasized,“This is what happens when you strike Ukraine's energy infrastructure.”

According to the Telegram channel Astra, on the night of October 17–18, drones attacked a power substation in the settlement of Veshkayma in Russia's Ulyanovsk region. Regional authorities reported that as a result of the strike by four drones on the substation, two explosions occurred and a fire broke out at the facility.

The settlement of Veshkayma was left without electricity following the attack. By Saturday morning, the power supply was reportedly restored.

Astra released a video filmed by eyewitnesses showing the moment a drone hit the substation and the subsequent explosion.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the alleged destruction of 41 drones overnight.

According to the ministry, five drones were shot down over the Republic of Bashkortostan and Kaluga region each, three over Moscow region, and others over Ryazan, Belgorod, Oryol, Volgograd, Kursk, Tambov, Tula, and Samara regions of Russia, as well as over the Black Sea.

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As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries have inflicted greater economic damage on Russia than international sanctions

Ukrinform photos can be purchased here.

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