Ukrainian rescue workers in the aftermath of a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, 31 August 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE / SERGEY KOZLOV
Ukraine launched one of its largest ever drone strikes at Russia overnight Saturday, with the Russian Defence Ministry reporting on Sunday that air defence systems had intercepted 158 Ukrainian drones over 15 different Russian regions.
The vast majority of the intercepted Ukrainian drones were downed over southwestern regions of Russia in immediate proximity to the Ukrainian border. In total, 46 drones were downed over the Kursk region, amid the ongoing Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) incursion into Russian territory, while a further 34 were intercepted over the Bryansk region, 28 over the Voronezh region, and 14 over the Belgorod region.
There were also drones intercepted over Moscow as well as over the Moscow, Ryazan, Kaluga, Lipetsk and Tula regions, the ministry said, though no information about casualties was given.
As a result of the drone attack on Moscow, an oil refinery in the Kapotnya district of the city caught fire. “Another drone damaged a technical room at the Moscow Refinery after crashing. At the moment, a small fire is being put out,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.
Another target appears to have been the Konakovo Power Station in the town of Konakovo in western Russia’s Tver region. A fire that broke out following a drone strike on the thermal power plant, which is one of the largest energy producers in central Russia, has now been extinguished, according to the regional authorities.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday that was Russia was already responding to the AFU attack, Telegram news channel Astra reported. “The response is already happening. Why do you think this is a one-off event. It is already happening,” Peskov told a Russian propagandist.
