Ukraine launches major drone attack on Russia, targeting energy and military sites
Ukraine carried out one of its biggest drone assaults on Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion, with Moscow reporting that air defences intercepted 660 drones overnight. The attacks spanned more than a dozen regions, including the annexed Crimean peninsula, and targeted energy infrastructure and military facilities, according to multiple reports.
Russia's Defence Ministry said it shot down 660 Ukrainian drones across 13 regions, including the capital Moscow and Crimea, as well as over the Black and Azov seas. The bombardment appeared to be one of Kyiv's largest since the Kremlin's invasion more than four years ago, exceeding a previous major strike of 556 drones on May 17, according to Al Jazeera and the South China Morning Post.
Widespread attacks on energy and industrial targets
The drone strikes hit a range of industrial and energy sites across central and southern Russia. In the Tula region, about 180km south of Moscow, a drone attack damaged a house and injured a woman, regional governor Dmitry Milyaev said, as reported by Al Jazeera. An industrial facility in Novomoskovsk, some 200km south of Moscow, was also damaged; Russian outlet Astra named it as the Azot chemical plant, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described as critical to Russia's production of explosives.
Separately, debris from a downed drone fell onto the site of a chemical plant in the Moscow region, governor Dmitri Miyaev said on Telegram, according to Deutsche Welle. In the Yaroslavl Region, governor Mikhail Yevrayev reported a drone attack on industrial facilities used for fuel storage, with a fire breaking out but no casualties, the outlet added.
Ukraine's long-range drones have increasingly targeted oil refineries, depots, and supply routes deep inside Russia, a campaign that has led to fuel shortages and disrupted military logistics, Western officials and analysts say, as noted by Al Jazeera and the South China Morning Post. The latest attacks also caused power outages in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-held Crimea, where the Russian-installed governor mandated early closing for public transport and cafes and dimmed street lights to protect the city during overnight attacks, the South China Morning Post reported.
Ukrainian strikes on military targets
Ukraine's Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defence radars in Kerch, a key port in Crimea. The targets were two reconnaissance and mine-laying ships, the Volga and the Vyatka, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, the agency claimed, asserting that the strikes started a large fire, as reported by ABC Australia. The claim could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had moved hundreds of air defence launchers, including S-400, S-500, and Pantsir systems, to the Moscow region alone, weakening other directions. Ukraine appeared to exploit those choices when it struck two military satellite communication centres near Moscow on June 22, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine's General Staff said the Vladimir Space Communications Centre's main parabolic antenna was "critically damaged," and a separate strike on the Dubna centre damaged its antenna; both facilities are used by Russia for surveillance and coordination, the report added.
Russia says it intercepted drones; Belarus tensions rise
Russia's Defence Ministry did not provide details on what was targeted or the extent of damage, a common practice in previous attacks. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 drones were downed as they flew toward the capital, without mentioning casualties or damage, ABC Australia reported.
The attacks have heightened concerns that Russia might try to pull its ally Belarus into the conflict. Zelenskyy accused Moscow of attempting to enlist Belarus' help in the war, Al Jazeera reported. He urged Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko to shut down four relay stations that help guide Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, giving him one week to do so, and warning that if he did not, Ukraine would act. A commander of Ukraine's drone forces, Robert Browdy, wrote on Facebook: "A barking dog doesn't bite," adding that "the first 500 targets [in Belarus] have been marked," according to Al Jazeera.
Regional impact and outlook
The intensifying drone campaign has imposed mounting costs on Russia, including fuel shortages and disrupted supply lines, which have stalled Moscow's battlefield progress, analysts say. The strikes on Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, have also cut off transport between the peninsula and the Russian mainland at times, according to Al Jazeera. As both sides continue to exchange long-range strikes, the conflict shows no signs of de-escalation, with Ukraine pressing its advantage in drone technology and Russia responding with its own aerial bombardments.
This article is based on reporting from ABC Australia, Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle, and the South China Morning Post.