The Ukrainian military said Tuesday that the wave of overnight strikes, which targeted industrial and military sites in Russia, was “the most massive” since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Ukraine has fired six U.S.-made Atacms ballistic missiles, six Storm Shadow cruise missiles and at least 146 drones at Russian territory, Moscow said Tuesday, in an attack that it warned would not go unanswered.
Missiles shot down
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had shot down all missiles fired by Ukraine at the Bryansk region, as well as 146 drones outside the war zone.
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The ministry added that two more Storm Shadows had been shot down over the Black Sea, and promised that “the actions of the Kiev regime, supported by its Western protectors, will not remain no answer.”
According to Andry Kovalenko, director of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, the Ukrainian strikes hit several targets in Engels, Saratov, Kazan, Bryansk and Tula. Weapons production plants, oil refineries and warehouses were targeted, he added.
Russian officials and media reported that the Ukrainian strikes damaged industrial sites in at least three cities. Roman Busargin, the governor of the Saratov region, said that the cities of Saratov and Engels, on the other side of the Volga, had suffered a major drone attack and that two industrial sites had been damaged.
Industrial structures affected
Schools in both cities have been closed and classes are being held remotely, he added. The drone strike hit an ammunition depot containing guided bombs and missiles at the Engels airbase in Russia's Saratov region, as well as other targets, a source in Ukraine's security service said on Tuesday.
The attack caused a large fire at the Aleksin chemical plant in the Tula region and a fire at the Saratov oil refinery, while the Bryansk chemical plant was also hit, the source said.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported damage. Ukraine had already attacked the region last week by bombing the fuel depot used to power strategic bombers at Russia's Engels airbase, causing a fire that lasted five days.
Russian independent media outlet Astra reported a fire at the industrial site in the city of Kazan, east of Moscow, following a drone attack. Flight restrictions have been imposed in Kazan, Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Nizhnekamsk, Russia's aviation watchdog said.
On November 21, Ukraine launched Atacms missiles and the British-made Storm Shadow missiles toward Russia for the first time. Moscow has threatened to retaliate any time Ukraine strikes Russia with these weapons. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday that it had shot down 58 of the 80 drones launched by Russia over Ukraine overnight.