According to a statement from a Ukrainian special services source, Ukraine initiated attacks on eight Russian areas early on Saturday morning using long-range strike drones, focusing on power substations and fuel depots.
The attacks during the night, which the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed, coincide with a fresh attempt by Moscow to use the bitter cold as a weapon of war to take down Ukraine's electrical infrastructure and leave its people without light.
The Russian Defense Ministry has expressed dissatisfaction at the appearance of several Ukrainian drones in eight different regions: Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Tula, Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga, and even the Moscow region. The source said, "At least three power substations and a fuel storage facility were damaged and caught fire," and added that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Defense Intelligence, and the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine collaborated on the operation.
The "energy infrastructure that feeds the Russian military-industrial facilities was the target," the person continued. After the bombings, some areas had problems with the water and electricity supplies.
Social media users posted a video of the aftermath of drone strikes on a fuel station in the Smolensk area of Russia. The depot caught fire early in the morning.
An effort was made this morning at around two in the morning by Ukrainian UAVs to assault a gasoline and energy complex in the Kardymovsky region. The aerial gadgets were shot down by air defense forces. Vasiliy Anokhin, the regional governor of Smolensk, posted on Telegram, saying, "information on casualties is being clarified."
A fuel and lubricant tank caught fire as a result of the falling UAV debris, according to Anokhin, and Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations officials were reacting to the fire.
The Smolensk governor stated in a different post that air defenses prevented one more UAV attempt on the regional hub later on Saturday morning.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its air defense systems had intercepted or destroyed fifty Ukrainian drones in the last day, in addition to reporting that it had intercepted one drone above the Smolensk region.
"A downed Ukrainian UAV caused a fire at an energy infrastructure facility," according to a report released on Saturday by Aleksandr Bogomaz, the governor of Bryansk, a region in southwest Russia.
“Fire and rescue units and emergency crews of PJSC Rosseti are operating at the site, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to consumers,” Bogomaz said in a Telegram update on Saturday.
Drone assaults by Ukraine have increased recently, targeting airfields and key facilities such as oil refineries and terminals, deep within Russian territory. According to a Ukrainian defense official, Ukraine is "implementing a well-planned strategy to decrease Russian economic potential" following raids on three refineries in mid-March, CNN said.
Drones with longer ranges and more sophisticated capabilities have enabled the attacks; some of these drones have even started incorporating rudimentary artificial intelligence to aid with navigation and prevent jamming, a source close to Ukraine's drone program told CNN.
The military's senior commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated a few days ago that the situation on Ukraine's eastern front has "worsened significantly." This statement was supported by video evidence, analysts, and interviews CNN conducted with Ukrainian soldiers. News of the drone assaults coincides with this development.
While frontline troops are forced to retreat from strategic terrain or face airstrikes while attempting to hold on to vital towns, Ukrainians were waiting on Saturday for a much-awaited vote in the US House of Representatives that could finally unlock nearly $61 billion in military aid for the nation.
Of that sum, over $11 billion would go toward funding ongoing US military activities in the area, and around $23 billion would go toward restocking US arsenals, infrastructure, and stockpiles. The bill's over $14 billion provision would assist Ukraine in purchasing cutting-edge weaponry and other defense hardware.
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