The main spire of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Tula Region was completely burned, according to the governor

A Ukrainian drone strike destroyed the dome of a cathedral in Tula Region, Russia in a large-scale overnight UAV raid on the country on Saturday, the regional governor has said.

The drone struck St. Nicholas Cathedral in the village of Yepifan, setting the main spire on fire and completely burning it, Dmitry Milyaev said in a statement on Telegram Sunday morning. The blast also damaged windows of nearby homes, he added.

"The fire has been localized," Milyaev wrote, adding that there were no casualties.

Footage circulating on social media shows the Orthodox cathedral's dome engulfed in flames, with burning debris tumbling onto the roofs below.

The drone raid damaged civilian homes and outbuildings in other parts of Tula Region, Milyaev said.

Russian air defenses shot down 16 UAVs over the region during the assault, according to the country's military. In total, 110 drones were intercepted across Russian airspace overnight, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Ukraine has escalated its drone strikes on civilian targets in Russia in recent days. Nearly 900 Ukrainian drones have been intercepted over Russian regions since Tuesday, according to data from the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has described the surge in UAV "terrorist attacks" on non-military targets as a deliberate attempt by Ukraine's "party of war" to sabotage the recently renewed direct peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine's Western backers, "led by the UK, France, Germany, and the EU leadership," are facilitating the attacks by supporting "Ukrainian Nazis," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

Direct peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia resumed in Türkiye earlier this month, three years after Kiev unilaterally withdrew from the previous round of talks in Istanbul in 2022. As a result, both sides agreed to draft memorandums outlining their proposals for a peace settlement, and agreed on a landmark 1,000 for 1,000 prisoner exchange, which concluded on Sunday.

(RT.com)