Ukrainian long-range drones have reportedly struck an industrial plant deep inside Russia, approximately 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) from the border, while Kyiv’s forces continue to fight an intense battle to repel a Russian advance on the strategic city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk.
Two drones targeted an industrial facility in Sterlitamak, located in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, according to regional Governor Radiy Habirov. He stated online that both drones were shot down, causing no casualties, and that the facility was operating normally, though he did not specify the exact target.
However, the city administration later reported an explosion at the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant, which led to the partial collapse of its water treatment facility. The cause of this explosion remains unknown at a plant that produces rubber and aviation fuel and had not been previously attacked.
These audacious strikes, utilising domestically produced drones, have caused considerable embarrassment for Moscow, with officials often reticent about any damage, and have unnerved the Russian populace. Ukraine has increasingly aimed at manufacturing plants, oil refineries, and military logistics hubs in an effort to disrupt Russia’s war machine, nearly four years after the full-scale invasion began.
Explosions were also heard at an industrial area of the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Ukraine, where an oil refinery and a petrochemical plant are located, Russian media reported. Officials did not confirm the reports.
Both Bashkortostan and Nizhny Novgorod are among the regions where the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Ukrainian drones were shot down, claiming that 85 were intercepted overnight.
Ukrainian officials said Russia bombarded the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine with drones, missiles and artillery overnight, killing one person and injuring 11 others, including two children.
Russia fired seven missiles of various types and 130 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine during the night, Ukraine’s air force said.
Also, Romania’s Defense said Tuesday that Russia carried out two overnight attacks on Ukraine’s Danube port infrastructure, close to the border with the NATO member country.
Two pairs of fighter jets were separately deployed from two different airbases for air policing missions after “numerous explosions were observed on the Ukrainian shore,” the ministry said.
On the battlefield, Russia and Ukraine are fiercely contesting control of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian stronghold in the Donetsk region that Moscow’s forces have been trying to capture for more than a year.
Russia has in recent months intensified its efforts in the area and has claimed its troops are making progress.
“Russian forces continue to advance in the Pokrovsk direction and appear to be operating with increasing comfort within Pokrovsk itself,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said late Monday.
