A large-scale Ukrainian attack struck industrial infrastructure in Russia’s southwestern Samara region Saturday, a Russian official said, reports BritPanorama.
Ivan Noskov, head of the region’s capital, Samara, stated that air defense forces had repelled a “massive” missile attack, resulting in “localized damage” to the city’s industrial sites. He mentioned that medical assistance has been provided to those injured in the attack, though he did not disclose further details.
In a strategic move, Ukraine has stepped up its long-range aerial attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities, aiming to undermine Moscow’s revenue for the war and make the Russian populace feel the consequences of the ongoing invasion, which has now entered its fifth year.
Zelenskyy says need for peace has to be felt in Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to social media to announce that Kyiv’s forces had struck Samara’s Progress Center, associated with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, which is involved in the production of rocket technology and electronics.
Zelenskyy indicated that the strike utilized Ukraine’s domestically produced Flamingo missiles, targeting the facility which is located approximately 560 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Additionally, he reported that Russia’s Savasleyka air base, situated around 430 miles from the front line, had also come under attack. “Peace is needed, and this must be evident in Russia — through concrete damage to specific facilities,” Zelenskyy asserted.
While the majority of Ukraine’s strikes have a range of less than 125 miles, there has been a notable increase in long-range attacks this year. In July, Ukraine launched three times as many long-range strikes as it did in January, according to data from ACLED, an independent conflict monitor. Repeated strikes deep into Russian territory have compelled the Russian military to spread its air defenses over a wider area.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday that it had intercepted 598 Ukrainian drones across 19 regions, as well as over the Black and Azov Seas and the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Separately, two individuals, including a nine-year-old child, were injured when a Ukrainian drone attack hit a private residence in the town of Shatura in the Moscow region, according to local Governor Andrey Vorobyov.
Child killed in drone strike
In a tragic incident, a Russian strike on an apartment block in southeastern Ukraine on Saturday resulted in the death of a three-month-old baby and injured 11 others, local officials announced.
Drones targeted the building in the town of Marhanets, as reported by Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration.
Furthermore, Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that it had targeted warehouses and infrastructure at the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Izmail, and Yuzhnyi.
Ukraine’s Air Force stated that Russia launched 152 drones over the country on Saturday, with 124 being successfully destroyed.
