Ukraine leader defiant as drones strike Russia again

Drones struck inside Russia’s border with Ukraine yesterday in the second day of attacks exposing the vulnerability of some of Moscow’s most important military sites.

After nine months of Russian bombardment of their towns and cities, Ukrainians cheered the taste of payback and the demonstration that their side could now reach deep into Russia, theoretically capable of hitting Moscow if it chose. The assaults also showed millions of Russians for the first time that they, too, might be vulnerable.

Ukrainian officials did not formally confirm carrying out drone strikes inside Russia, and they have maintained ambiguity over previous high-profile attacks.

But Britain’s Defence Ministry said Russia was likely to consider the attacks on Russian bases more than 500km from the border with Ukraine as “some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian authorities will “take the necessary measures” to enhance protection of key facilities. Russian bloggers who generally maintain contacts with officials in their country’s military criticised the lack of defensive measures.

A fire broke out at an airport in Russia’s southern Kursk region that borders Ukraine after a drone hit the facility, the region’s governor said yesterday. In a second incident, an industrial plant 80km from the Ukrainian border was also targeted by drones, which missed a fuel depot at the site, Russian media reported.

Moscow blamed Kyiv for unprecedented attacks on two air bases deep inside Russia on Tuesday. The attacks on the Engels base in the Saratov region on the Volga River and the Dyagilevo base in the Ryazan region in western Russia were some of the most brazen inside Russia during the war.

In October, the Ukrainian state weapons manufacturer, Ukroboronprom, said it was finalising development of a drone with a range of more than 1000km and a 75kg warhead. And on Monday — a day before the two Russian bases were hit — the company said it had completed testing of the new weapon.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said the strikes on Tuesday used Sovietera, jet-powered drones. Arms experts said the aircraft was probably the Tupolev TU-141 Strizh, a surveillance drone developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and repurposed by the Ukrainians, possibly carrying an explosive. Analysts say it can fly at 1100km/h at low altitudes, much like some cruise missiles, making it difficult to detect and shoot down.

In the aftermath, Russian troops carried out another wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian territory which struck homes and buildings and killed civilians, compounding damage done to power and other infrastructure.

Approximately half of households in the Kyiv region remain without electricity, the regional governor said yesterday, while authorities in southern Odesa say they have managed to restore power to hospitals and some vital services.

In a new display of defiance from Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to the eastern Donetsk region near the front line. Marking Ukraine’s Armed Forces Day, Zelenskyy vowed to push Russian forces out of all of Ukraine’s territory.

“Everyone sees your strength and your skill . . . I’m grateful to your parents. They raised real heroes,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to Ukrainian forces from the city of Sloviansk, a key Ukrainian stronghold.

Pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov said the latest strikes by Ukraine “have raised questions about security of Russian military air bases”.

The Engels base hosts Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in strikes on Ukraine. Dyagilevo houses aircraft used for mid-air refuelling.

In a daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine, Britain’s Defence Ministry said the bombers would likely be dispersed to other airfields.

Speaking in a conference call with reporters yesterday, Peskov said “the Ukrainian regime’s course for continuation of such terror attacks poses a threat”.

Peskov reaffirmed that Russia sees no prospects for peace talks now, adding “the Russian Federation must achieve its stated goals”.