This week, Ukraine launched its first drone attack on a Russian region hundreds of kilometers from the border.
The drone attack targeted Zenit’s oil depot in Russia’s Kirov region on Wednesday, Ukrainian online newspaper The Kyiv Independent reported. Russia shot down two of the drones, while three others crashed, sparking a fire in a nearby town.
No injuries were reported, but the strike caused fires at two oil depots, according to the report.
The attack was Ukraine’s first on the Kirov region, more than 1,100 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border, since the war began more than two years ago, the newspaper reported.
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Kirov Governor Alexander Sokolov said there was no damage or disruption to operations following the strike, the online newspaper The Moscow Times reported.
According to Reuters, Ukraine also attacked an oil depot in Russia’s Rostov region on Wednesday. Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said there were “no casualties” in the attack and that firefighters were working to put out the fire.
Meanwhile, the Kavkaz oil depot, also located in the Rostov region, has been burning for 10 days, according to the Times.. Current satellite images show that the fire is continuing to spread.
Newsweek asked the Foreign Ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment by email.
The drone strikes follow Ukraine’s surprise invasion of the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy region, on August 6. Since then, Ukrainian forces have taken control of 482 square miles of Russian territory and 92 settlements, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on August 19.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which caught Russia by surprise, forced the country to withdraw troops and resources from the front lines in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his armed forces to push Ukrainian troops out of Kursk by October 1, the RBC-Ukraine news agency reported.
The Kursk offensive comes more than two years after Russian President Vladimir Putin first announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine. The United States and its allies immediately condemned the operation, saying it lacked any justification.
Russia originally aimed for a quick victory over Ukraine, which was considered militarily weaker. But Russia’s stronger than expected reaction, backed by Western military support, prevented victory in the war.
Ukraine is said to have captured more territory in the Kursk region than Russia has in Ukraine since the beginning of the year. The invasion is also the first time since World War II that foreign troops have taken over Russian territory. Zelensky said Ukraine controls at least 80 settlements in Kursk.
