Ukraine launches massive drone attack on Russia
Ukraine launched a major nighttime attack on a dozen Russian regions, Russian-held Crimea and the surrounding seas, Moscow’s Defence Ministry said on Friday, in what appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest drone assaults since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago. Russian air defences intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defence Ministry said. 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.
A Russian chemical plant is reportedly hit Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defence Ministry usually doesn’t 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 hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t 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 minelaying 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.
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 U.S. 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. Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.
A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine’s military. Ukraine says 3 civilians killed and 20 wounded in Russian attacks. Two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.
