MORE than 100 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia early today, officials said, sparking a wildfire and setting an apartment block alight.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence reported that it had shot down 125 drones over seven regions.

The south-western region of Volgograd came under the heaviest fire, with 67 Ukrainian drones reportedly downed by Russian air defences.

Images on social media showed flames rising from the windows of a high-rise building’s top floor after debris from 17 drones were seen falling over the Voronezh region.

No casualties were reported.

A further 18 drones were reported over Russia’s Rostov region, where falling debris sparked a wildfire, said governor Vasily Golubev.

He said that the fire did not endanger populated areas but that emergency services were fighting to extinguish the blaze, which had engulfed an expanse of forest.

Elsewhere, 16 civilians were injured in a Russian night barrage on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia after Ukrainian military leaders warned that Moscow could be preparing for a new military offensive in the country’s south.

The city was targeted by Russian guide bombs in 10 separate attacks that damaged a high-rise building and several residential homes, regional governor Ivan Fedorov reported. More people could still be trapped beneath the rubble, he said.

It followed the killing of 10 people on Saturday after Russia attacked a hospital in Sumy, north-eastern Ukraine, twice in 45 minutes.

At least 22 others were injured in the attacks.

United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine head Danielle Bell said that “loitering munitions” hit the Saint Panteleimon Clinical Hospital.

“Most of the fatalities occurred during the second strike, which hit as first responders arrived at the site and patients attempted to evacuate,” she said.