Ukraine has launched a major night-time attack on a dozen Russian regions, Russian-held Crimea and the surrounding seas, Moscow’s Defense Ministry says.
Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday, local time.
The bombardment appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest drone assaults since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago.
The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year, as Ukraine has accelerated its drone development, involved 556 drones on May 17.
In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have been battering 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 has heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have been battering 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 has heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian chemical plant reportedly hit
Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense Ministry usually does not say what was targeted in Ukraine’s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.
Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydro-electric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press could not independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or 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.
Russia-annexed Crimea declares ’emergency’
Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea on Friday declared an “emergency situation” in a bid to ease the fallout from increasing Ukrainian aerial attacks on the peninsula.
The announcement comes amid fuel shortages and power cuts triggered by the Ukrainian attacks on logistics chains and oil facilities across Crimea, the rest of Russian-occupied Ukraine and southern Russia.
“A decision has been made … to sign decrees declaring a regional-level emergency situation in the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol,” the Moscow-installed governor Sergey Aksyonov said in a post on Telegram.
The emergency situation would allow for a “rapid resolution of tasks related to ensuring the stable operation of all sectors”, Mr Aksyonov said in the post.
Despite the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands and ravaged swaths of Ukraine, Crimea has been a popular holiday destination for Russians.
Speaking to AFP by phone, a Moscow resident holidaying in Feodosia on Crimea’s south-eastern coast said earlier this week that “everyone is afraid: locals and visitors alike”.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea in 2014, though the vast majority of countries — including many of Moscow’s allies — do not recognise the move.
The Black Sea territory holds special importance to Mr Putin, who hailed the annexation as a historic victory and has poured resources into the peninsula since 2014.
Ukraine says Crimea is an inalienable part of its territory and will never formally cede it.
Zelenskyy hints at a 40-day blitz of Russia
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.
Ukraine has racked up a list of successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St Petersburg.
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