AFP, Kyiv

Russia yesterday said a Ukrainian attack sparked a fire at a major port in the country’s northwest in a barrage of almost 400 drones, launched a day after a record Russian aerial assault on Ukraine.

A power plant in Estonia was also hit by a drone that had flown into the Nato member from Russian airspace, while another crashed into Latvian territory, with officials in Riga saying that it was likely a Ukrainian drone gone astray.

The attack came after Russia fired nearly 1,000 drones at Ukraine over a 24-hour period starting late Monday, killing a total of eight people across the country, hitting the historic centre of Lviv and residential houses in western Ukraine during Tuesday evening rush hour.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed what he called Russia’s “absolute depravity” and vowed a response to the pummelling.

Russia’s defence ministry said yesterday that its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 389 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in regions that border Ukraine as well as around Moscow.

The attack triggered a fire at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga, an oil exporting hub on the Gulf of Finland, close to Russia’s border with Estonia.

The blaze was “being brought under control” regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on social media, adding that no casualties had been reported.

Drozdenko did not specify which part of the port had been hit. The facility is a major hub for Russian fertilisers, oil and coal exports.

There was no comment from Ukraine’s military on the attack.

Earlier this week Ukraine hit another of Russia’s major Baltic Sea port -- Primorsk -- triggering a large fire that poured thick black smoke into the air, visible from satellite images.

A Ukrainian rocket attack also dealt “serious damage” to electricity and water facilities in the Russian border region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Ukraine has been intensifying its retaliatory attacks on Russia’s infrastructure -- including refineries, oil depots and ports -- in past weeks, calling it fair retribution and an attempt to cut Russia’s energy proceeds that fund its war effort.

EU and Nato member Estonia said yesterday a drone coming from Russian airspace hit a chimney of the Auvere power plant, near the town of Narva on the Russian border, causing no injuries.

“These are the effects of Russia’s large-scale war of aggression,” said Estonia’s Internal Security Service Director General Margo Palloson, expressing concern about “the occurrence of such incidents in the future”.