Ukraine has launched a large-scale attack inside Russian territory, using attack drones and causing a serious fire at energy and fuel facilities in the Smolensk region, Reuters reports.
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“Our region is again under attack by Ukrainian drones. As a result of the enemy attack on civilian fuel and energy installations, fires broke out in the Smolensk and Yartsevo regions,” said Vasili Anokhin, the governor of the region, on the Telegram messaging application. There is still no information on which facilities caught fire.
Separately, Igor Artamonov, the governor of the Lipetsk region in southwestern Russia, said a drone there fell on an industrial estate. He stated on Telegram that there were no injuries, but nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution.
The government in Kiev rarely comments on attacks inside Russia, but Ukrainian officials have said the destruction of Russia’s critical energy, military and transportation infrastructure undermines the Kremlin’s criminal regime’s overall war efforts.
Ukraine claims the Smolensk attack
Ukraine confirmed and claimed the drone strike against Russia’s Smolensk region, about 400 kilometers from its borders with Russia, according to a Ukrainian defense source, but said the strikes were against “legitimate targets”.
Ukrainian drones hit “two oil depots storing 26,000 cubic meters of fuel” during this operation organized by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the quoted source said. This claim comes amid tensions with the United States, which has publicly criticized Ukraine’s strikes against targets on the territory of the aggressor state.
Before the claim of the Ukrainian side, the governor of the Russian Smolensk region, Vasili Anokhin, announced on Telegram that elements of energy infrastructure caught fire after Ukrainian drone attacks, stating that the attack did not cause human casualties.
Another Ukrainian drone attack targeted, on Wednesday, the special economic zone in the city of Lipetsk, according to the governor of this region, Igor Artamanov. Lipetsk is located approximately 400 km from the Ukrainian border, but further south, and hosts, in particular, metallurgical and pharmaceutical enterprises.
The Ukrainian army has increased its drone attacks against Russian territory in recent months, targeting in particular the energy infrastructure of the aggressor state.
Editor: Adrian Dumitru
Tags: Ukraine claims attack Russia kilometers border fires Russian energy facilities
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