Moscow: The Russian Defence Ministry on Friday, June 26, reported intercepting 660 Ukrainian drones overnight over 12 Russian regions, as well as the illegally annexed Crimea, the Azov, and the Black Sea.
It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russian regions and the annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up its aerial campaign against Russian military installations and energy facilities. Its success has caused fuel shortages and disrupted army supply lines, stalling Moscow’s war efforts after more than four years of fighting.
The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after US peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.
Russian chemical plant reportedly hit
In the Tula region just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge.
He also said a power line and an unspecified industrial facility were damaged in the city of Novomoskovsk.
Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.
Ukraine says 2 civilians were killed in Russian attacks
Two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.
Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region using guided aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov said.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.
On May 29, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had said the conflict in Ukraine was nearing an end, citing the “situation on the battlefield.”
“The situation on the battlefield is developing in such a way that it gives us the right to say that the situation is nearing its end,” the Russian head of state said, Russia’s state‑owned Tass news agency reported.
However, he said naming a specific timeframe for the end of the conflict would be “impossible,” and not only “reckless but practically never done.”
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