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Russian warplanes intercepted 660 Ukrainian planes during overnight raids on 12 regions and the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday.
It appeared to be one of the largest airstrikes on airports in Russia’s illegally annexed regions and Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.
In an attempt to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war, long-range Ukrainian drones have been attacking targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front lines and deep in the country for months.
The operation halted Russian fuel and military supplies, halted its efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts said, and put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The massive attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told X that he had ordered a “40-day campaign,” believed to mean an increase in attacks, aimed at “forcing [Russia] to end the war” after US peace efforts over the past year have failed.
Successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St.
A Russian chemical plant has been reported
In the district of Tula south of Moscow, a toilet was damaged during the attack and a woman was injured, said Gov. Tula Dmitry Milyaev in an online statement as reports of the damage caused by this began to emerge.
He also said a power line was damaged as well as an unspecified industrial area in the city of Novomoskovsk.
Independent Russian online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and burned. The Associated Press could not independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were shot down while flying towards the Russian capital. He did not report any injuries or damage.
2 were killed in Kharkiv
Two people were killed and seven were injured in Russian attacks northeast of Kharkiv in the past 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said on Friday.
The Russian military attacked the city of Kharkiv and 16 other places across the region using aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov said.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces overnight intercepted 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian military said. However, seven of the seven Iskander-M missiles fired penetrated air defenses and hit different locations, he said.
Ukrainian officials reported damage to power plants, houses and other public infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv, the southern region of Odesa and Sumy in the northeast.
