Russian forces destroy Starlink communication station near Bakhmut

MOSCOW, Russia - Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian Starlink satellite communication station and a drone control centre near Bakhmut, a Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik.

"The artillery of the group (of Russian forces) destroyed a Starlink communication station, a control centre for unmanned aerial vehicles together with a Leleka-100 drone, a communication centre and a pickup truck with an infantry group," the spokesperson said.

In addition, Russian forces have repelled an attack by a Ukrainian assault group near the village of Berkhivka in the Bakhmut area.

Meanwhile, air raid warnings were issued in several regions of Ukraine late on Saturday night, according to air raid data from the country’s Digital Transformation Ministry.

Air raid sirens went off in the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv and the Kiev-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, at around midnight, the ministry’s online map showed.

Later in the night, air raid alerts were issued in the regions of Odesa, Cherkasy, Poltava and Kharkiv. Air raid warnings were later in effect in the regions of Kiev, Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia.

Ukrainian media reported overnight that explosions were heard in the Mykolaiv region. Local authorities said that blasts were heard in the Ukraine-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia overnight.

Precision strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure have been carried out by Russia since Oct 10 (two days after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge).

In February, the head of Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said that direct damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure caused by Russian strikes may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, with economic losses ranging in billions. - BERNAMA-SPUTNIK