On the night of Saturday, Ukraine conducted one of the longest drone attacks in recent times. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the targets included military facilities in Kronstadt and other sites in the St. Petersburg area, as well as an oil depot in the Krasnodar region.
On the night of Saturday, Ukraine launched a massive drone strike on the territory of Russia and the occupied areas of Ukraine. One of the main targets of the attack, according to Kyiv, was the facilities of the Russian Navy in Kronstadt near St. Petersburg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukrainian drones covered about a thousand kilometers and reached the St. Petersburg area, where naval arsenals and a base of the Russian fleet were attacked.
In addition, according to Zelensky, strikes were carried out on facilities in the Krasnodar region. In particular, the target was an oil depot located about 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The Ukrainian leader referred to such operations as "long-range sanctions" and emphasized that they are a response to the ongoing Russian aggression.
According to available information, fires were recorded at several sites as a result of the nighttime attack. There are also reports of damage to port infrastructure in Kronstadt and the occupied Mariupol.
What is important to know: Kronstadt is considered one of the key centers for the basing of the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea. Attacks on such facilities indicate the ability of Ukrainian drones to hit targets at significant distances from the front line.
The massive raid occurred just before the conclusion of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum — one of the largest business events in Russia.
St. Petersburg has become one of the main targets of a large-scale drone attack for the second time in less than a week. This indicates an expansion of the geography of strikes and the growing role of long-range drone systems in the war.
Russian authorities and military traditionally report on the operation of air defense systems; however, information about the extent of damage to the attacked facilities continues to be clarified.
The nighttime attack was yet another indication that hostilities are increasingly affecting targets deep within Russian territory, including strategically important military and infrastructure facilities.
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