MOSCOW — Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure have left more than 20,000 people without power in several Russian border regions, local authorities said on Sunday.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the "electricity and heating supply network has suffered severe damage" in the regional capital of the same name.

"Several streets are affected by power issues... More than 20,000 residents are without electricity," he said on Telegram.

In the western Kursk region, "a fire broke out at one of the power plants in the village of Korenevo," cutting power to 10 localities, Governor Alexander Khinshtein announced on Telegram.

A fire also broke out at a heating facility in the southern Voronezh region, according to Governor Alexander Gusev.

Russia's defence ministry, for its part, reported having shot down 44 drones over the border Bryansk region.

On Saturday, Russian attacks on energy infrastructure left Ukraine scrambling to turn light and heating back on, with generating capacity at one of Ukraine's providers reduced to "zero".

The attack caused significant damage to Ukrainian power plants and resulted in at least four deaths.

Moscow, which has escalated attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure in recent months, launched 69 drones at energy facilities across the country overnight into Sunday, of which 34 were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.