Deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine as drone hits St Petersburg

Russian authorities have said an "emergency" damaged an apartment building in St Petersburg on Saturday morning. 

However, local news and social media claimed a Ukrainian drone hit the residential building in Russia's second-largest city. 

Euronews could not independently verify either claim. 

It followed an overnight Russian drone strike on an apartment block in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, which killed four people, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper. A 3-month-old baby was among the dead. 

A further eight people sustained injuries, authorities said.

In Russia, the TASS state news agency said damage to the apartment in St Petersburg's Krasnogvardeisky district was caused by an " explosion".

Residents were evacuated, though there were no casualties, the city's governor Alexander Beglov wrote on Telegram. 

Windows were broken and balconies were damaged.

The Mash news website said the apartment building was hit by a Ukrainian drone.

It published videos appearing to show the moment the apartment building was struck, showing a strong flash of light engulfing one side of the building and fragments of debris flying into the air. Another video showed car alarms going off. 

Again the videos could not be immediately verified by Euronews.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has not commented on the incident.

Citing preliminary data, TASS reports that 100 people were taken out of the buildings on the streets and residents of homes affected were temporarily housed in a nearby kindergarten. 

The damaged building is a five-story building built in 1979, with 90 apartments in six entrances, the Russian state agency reported.

Back in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the Odesa region was attacked by eight drones, of which