Last night Ukraine launched its largest attack against military infrastructure located in Russian territory since the beginning of the war according to the kyiv General Staff in a statement.
In the attack, according to the source, targets located in the regions of Briansk, Saratov, Tula and Tatarstan located between 200 and 1,100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
In the Saratov region, a fuel depot located near the Engels-2 air base was hit. The deposit had already been hit by Ukrainian attack five days ago.
Two air defense systems Tor and Buk were destroyed during the attack, according to the kyiv General Staff.
Other infrastructure affected is the city’s chemical plant of Seltso, in the Russian region of Bryansk, which produces explosives of different types. The Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that the bombing was carried out with six American ATACMS missiles and six British Storm Shadow missiles, ensuring that they were shot down without leaving any victims.
However, a source from the Ukrainian security service (SBU) assured that the “missiles directly hit the compound” and caused “a major fire”.
This attack launched by drone forces, special operations forces and missile forces together with the Ukrainian secret service and the Air Force also caused a fire at an oil refinery of Saratov, in addition to that of the chemical plant in the Tatarstan region.
The Russian authorities, for their part, have reported an attack with nearly a hundred drones against twelve Russian regions and the launch by Ukraine of six American ATACMS missiles and another six British Storm Shadow missiles against the Bryansk border region.
Russia promised systematic aftershocks to any Western missile bombardment on its territory, and threatened to attack the center of kyiv or use its new hypersonic missile experimental Oreshnik. “The actions of the kyiv regime, supported by its Western masters, will not go unanswered,” the military note indicates.
Ukraine regularly attacks military and energy infrastructure in Russia in retaliation for the Moscow bombings against its territory since the start of the Russian offensive in the former Soviet republic in February 2022, reports Afp.
Both sides escalated the conflict before the inauguration of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, on January 20. Trump said he wants to stop the war as soon as possible and each side wants to secure a position of strength before sitting down at the negotiating table.
The Ukrainian air force stated on Tuesday that shot down 58 drones launched by Russia. In the Kharkiv region, in the northeast of the country, a 52-year-old man was killed by Russian artillery fire, local authorities said.
On the ground, Russian forces claimed the capture of Terny and Neskuchne, two towns in the east of the country who had been liberated by Ukrainian troops in October 2022 and June 2023 respectively.