Putin celebrates: Russia takes over important city in Ukraine

According to official reports, Putin celebrated the conquest by his troops. That evening, Putin ordered the immediate evacuation of all civilians remaining in Kostiantynivka. There was no comment from the Ukrainian side on the victory reports from Moscow. The Ukrainian military recently acknowledged a difficult situation in the already heavily destroyed city. In its situation report that evening, the Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev only spoke of heavy fighting around Kostiantynivka.

In June, Putin announced that Russian troops were about to capture the strategically important Ukrainian city. Russian forces now controlled the entire Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine – one of the two regions that make up Donbass, Peskov added.

Numerous dead in Ukrainian attacks in Russia

According to Russian information, at least ten people were killed in a large-scale Ukrainian offensive on Friday. About five people were killed and 18 others injured in a drone attack on a market in Tokmak, in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, the local governor said on the online service Telegram.

A woman died in her car from shrapnel injuries in a rocket attack on Belgorod, the city’s mayor said. Civilian infrastructure was also damaged and there were problems with the electricity and water supply. In addition, a man was killed by a kamikaze drone in the Bryansk region, the local governor said. Two other people were injured.

Larger parts of Crimea without electricity

Repeated Ukrainian drone attacks caused power outages in large areas of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula. “Currently, more than ten districts are completely or partially without electricity,” Moscow-appointed governor Sergei Aksyonov was quoted as saying by the Tass agency. “The enemy attacks the peninsula’s power grid with drones every day.” The situation is difficult. He did not provide any information about how many people would be affected by the power shutdowns.

Ukraine also attacked two Russian air bases in Crimea. The target was combat aircraft and drone depots, as the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU reported on Telegram. The Hwardijske and Saki bases were affected. The latter was attacked for the second time this week. According to the SBU, the aircraft stationed there were damaged or destroyed. A Russian statement was initially not available.

According to the General Staff in Kiev, the Ukrainian armed forces in Crimea also completely destroyed a bridge in the Krasnogvardeysk region in the center of the peninsula. This made supplying the fronts in eastern Ukraine with supplies much more difficult. In addition, radar systems and an electronic reconnaissance facility near Sevastopol were attacked by drones. An independent confirmation was not possible.

So far, the Russian armed forces have repeatedly caused massive power outages in Ukraine with attacks. The civilian population was put under severe pressure, especially in winter. Ukrainian attacks are currently increasingly directed against military targets in Crimea. However, the energy infrastructure is also being targeted by Ukrainian drones.

Drone attack shuts down major Russian oil refinery, according to insider

After a Ukrainian drone attack, Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery Norsi stopped processing crude oil, according to insiders. According to local governor Gleb Nikitin, one person was killed and an industrial facility was damaged in the attack in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The drone hit the main refinery plant, which accounts for 53 percent of Norsi’s total capacity, two people familiar with the incident said. The owner Lukoil did not initially comment. Norsi is Russia’s second largest gasoline producer.

In addition, a Ukrainian drone attack in the Smolensk region caused a fire at an industrial facility, according to the administration.

Russian glide bombs and rockets on Ukrainian cities

At least five people were killed in Russian attacks on the major Ukrainian cities of Zaporizhia and Dnipro using glide bombs, drones and rockets. “Three dead and twelve wounded, including children,” wrote Olexander Ganscha, military administrator of Dnipro. The region was hit by at least 50 attacks during the day.

At least two civilians were killed by a glide bomb in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, which is close to the front. Another 21 were injured, the military governor of the region of the same name, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram. The building of an industrial company was damaged by the bomb. The front line between Russian and Ukrainian troops runs about 20 kilometers south of the industrial city.