Ukraine launched a major nighttime attack on a dozen Russian regions, Russian-held Crimea and the surrounding seas, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Friday, in what appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest drone assaults since the Kremlin’s full-scale attack more than four years ago.
Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense 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.
Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense 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.
