Russia deals blow by largest drone assault since war began

Newsweek carries an article about Moscow accusing Ukraine of repeated drone strikes on its territory, Caliber.Az reprints the article.

Ukrainian drones targeted sites in nine Russian regions, including two energy facilities, in an overnight barrage thought to be Kyiv's biggest since the start of the war, according to reports and social media posts from Russian authorities.

While Moscow has accused Ukraine of repeated drone strikes on its territory, March 11 night's strikes appear to have been on a larger scale. In August 2023, UAV attacks on six Russian regions including Moscow were reported as the biggest drone strikes since the start of the war.

Russia's defense ministry said on March 12 that air defences had destroyed and intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones overnight in the Moscow, Leningrad, Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Tula and Oryol regions. The authorities of the Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh regions also reported drone attacks.

There have been multiple reports of oil depots catching fire or railways being sabotaged across Russia, especially in recent months. Ukrainian media sources usually link the attacks to Ukraine's military intelligence, or the SBU, although Kyiv often doesn't comment about strikes on Russian territory.

Oryol governor Andrey Klychkov said on Telegram that a drone hit a fuel and energy complex in the region's capital city of the same name, causing a fire that was later extinguished.

Local residents shared footage of explosions in the city, with state media agency RIA reporting that a drone strike had caused the evacuation of 17 people from two neighboring buildings.

Authorities in the Nizhny Novgorod region, around 280 miles east of Moscow, said several drones had hit the Kstovo industrial zone, targeting a facility within an oil refinery, where a fire broke out.

Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil company, confirmed to RIA Novosti that the incident had temporarily suspended operations at processing unit.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region that borders the Ukrainian oblasts of Sumy, Kharkiv and Luhansk and is a frequent target for Kyiv, said a drone strike had left seven settlements without electricity.

Russia's defense ministry said air defense forces in the Belgorod region had shot down one Tochka-U missile and eight shells of the RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system, but Gladkov said there were no casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that a drone flying towards the capital was shot down in the capital's Ramensky district, and there were no reports of damage or casualties either there, or in the Leningrad, Bryansk, and Voronezh regions, according to local authorities.

The drone attacks came amid reports on Telegram that Ukrainian military units formed from Russians had probably entered the Belgorod and Kursk regions in armored vehicles—backed by mortar and artillery fire.

Citing Russian security sources, The War Gonzo Telegram channel said there were about 50 people in the unit, and after shelling from the Russian side, they retreated to their original positions in an incident just days before Russians go to the polls.