Ukraine struck two airfields on Russian territory on Monday, striking civilian buildings and infrastructure from Moscow. the illusion of more power in a nine-month conflict.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that Ukrainian drones entered Russian airspace to strike two air bases in Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia.
The Russian side reported that three servicemen were killed and four were wounded in the attack, and two military planes were damaged.
One of the airfields, Engels Air Base outside Saratov, is home to a squadron of nuclear bombers.
“The Kiev regime attempted to attack the airfields of Dyagilev in the Ryazan region and Engels in the Saratov region with Soviet-made unmanned jet aircraft in order to disable Russian long-range aircraft,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. said the ministry.
The This was reported by the New York Times on Monday An anonymous senior Ukrainian official said he confirmed Kiev was responsible for the strike. However, officially, Ukraine has stopped claiming the strike as its own.
“If something is launched into the airspace of other countries, sooner or later unidentified flying objects will return to the point of departure,” replied Zelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak in a tweet.
If confirmed as a Ukrainian attack, this strike would be Ukraine’s most audacious attack on Russian territory. since the Russian invasion in February.
Since the start of the war, Kiev has denied any cross-border activity, but Russia claims there have been several Ukrainian airstrikes on Russian airfields just a few miles from the border.
However, Ryazan and Saratov are hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border – both east of Moscow.
In response, Russia fired 70 missiles at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure on Monday.
Kiev claimed to have successfully shot down 60 of the missiles, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strike killed four civilians.
Rocket strikes were reported in Cherkasy, Kriviy Rog and Odessa. Water, electricity and central heating have been cut off in large parts of the historic southern port city of Odessa.
The strikes come amid a concerted Russian effort to target Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the cold winter months – an attempt to break Ukraine’s will to resist.
But in his late-night speech on Monday, Zelensky praised Ukraine’s air defenses for shooting down most of the incoming strikes.
“Every downed Russian missile is a clear proof that terror can be defeated,” he said.
With post wires