IRIA News

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Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks on Russia over the weekend, hitting a refinery and power station deep inside the country. Kremlin said that the Russian military shot down 158 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 11 over Moscow and the surrounding region.

The attacks have been described as the biggest ever on the Russian region during the war that has raged for about two and a half years into the war. Ukraine has stepped up aerial assaults on Russian soil since the beginning of the year.

The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged the attacks but downplayed the effectiveness, saying that 158 Ukrainian UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) “were destroyed and intercepted by on-duty air defense” overnight in 15 regions, including over Moscow. The specific targets of the assault were Konakovo Power Station and the Moscow Oil Refinery. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drones caused a fire at the refinery. No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian drone strikes have brought the fight far from the front line into the heart of Russia. Of the 150 drones, as many as 46 were shot over the Kursk region, where Ukraine has sent its forces in recent weeks in the largest incursion on Russian soil since World War II.

Ukraine strikes back overnight with drone attacks that hit a major refinery and power plants in Moscow and nearby regions. pic.twitter.com/Hy5lpY4SlB

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) September 1, 2024

A further 34 were shot over the Bryansk region, 28 over the Voronezh region, and 14 over the Belgorod region. All of these regions border Ukraine. The Ukrainian military also reportedly managed to target deeper into Russia, including one each in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, and the Ivanovo region, northeast of the Russian capital.

Ukraine’s drone offensive comes after a week of massive missile and drone attacks from Russia, which led to the loss of one of Ukraine’s U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets. Following the deadly crash and loss of one of the country’s few F-16 fighter pilots, the Ukrainian president fired the commander of the country’s air force.

Despite the ongoing tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on September 2, arrived for a state visit in Mongolia, which lies on the route of a planned new gas pipeline connecting Russia and China.

Key highlights

• Ukraine targets refinery, power plants near Moscow in massive drone attack
• Moscow says it shot down more than 150 drones overnight
• Russian missiles injured 47 people in Kharkiv

Russia launches a barrage of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles: Kyiv

Russia launched an overnight barrage of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Kyiv, officials said Monday. Russia’s attack on Sunday came a few hours after its military reported intercepting and destroying 158 drones over its territory that is part of a “massive” Ukrainian attack.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said emergency services were called to the Holosiivskyi and Solomianskyi districts of Kyiv. “There will be an answer for everything. The enemy will feel it,” the head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, posted on his Telegram page following the attack.

Last week, Russia “used more than 160 missiles of various types, 780 guided aerial bombs and 400 attack drones of various types” against Ukraine, according to Zelenskyy.

Kharkiv struck by Russian missiles

At least 47 people, including five children, were injured in a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.  The city was struck by 10 missiles, with a shopping center, a sports facility, and residential buildings among those damaged. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the Saltivskyi and Nemyshlianskyi districts came under attack.

Following Sunday’s attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his call for Ukraine’s Western allies to allow the country to use their weapons on targets deeper inside Russia. “All the necessary forces of the world must be brought in to stop this terror,” Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel.

The Ukrainian government has presented the Biden administration with a list of targets inside Russia that Kyiv wants to hit with US-supplied long-range weapons, including the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov recently confirmed to U.S. media. Fired from mobile launchers, ATACMS have a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) and can be fitted with various types of warheads, including high-explosive warheads.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also urged allies to “abandon baseless fears” and “lift restrictions on the country’s legitimate right to self-defense.” Kubela said that “Ukraine is forced to fight with hands tied behind its back.”