Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Friday.
It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year was 556 drones on May 17.
In an effort to turn the tables on Russia's grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia. The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Moscow's efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia's Defence Ministry usually doesn't say what was targeted in Ukraine's drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.
Ukraine's Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defence radars in Kerch, an important port city in Crimea. The targets were two reconnaissance and mine-laying ships, the Volga and the Vyatka, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, the agency said, claiming that the strikes started a large fire. The claim could not be independently verified.
Successful drone attacks embolden Ukraine
The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation”, believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling Russia to end the war” after US peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough. The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from US President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table. A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine's military.
Russian chemical plant targeted
In the Tula region just south of Moscow, a house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement, as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge. Ze also said a power line was damaged and an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.
Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The report, however, could not be independently verified and there was no official confirmation.
Also read: Russia shifting air defences to Moscow: Zelenskyy
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