Ukrainian Drones Target 6 Russian Areas; Prigozhin Laid to Rest

author: FutureCar Staff    

Ukrainian drones conducted strikes on targets in multiple regions deep within Russia on Wednesday. One of the targets was an airfield where military transport planes were destroyed. Russian officials identified the attacked regions as Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan, and Moscow. The Russian foreign ministry warned that the attacks would not go unpunished and suggested that the drones could not have reached so far into Russian territory without Western assistance.

In the city of Pskov, located in northern Russia and over 600 km (400 miles) away from Ukraine, a massive fire broke out at a military airfield. This airfield is home to elite paratroopers. According to Tass news agency, at least four giant Il-76 transport planes were damaged, with two of them catching fire.

Simultaneously, Russia launched severe air strikes on Ukraine's capital. As a result, debris from intercepted missiles fell in four different locations, leading to the deaths of at least two individuals in Kyiv.

Reuters captured footage of a fireball falling from the night sky near a supermarket. The fireball detonated, causing a massive explosion that illuminated nearby apartment blocks. Moscow claimed that the target was a command and intelligence facility.

The governor of Pskov shared a video on Telegram showing a large fire at the air base, accompanied by the sounds of sirens and an explosion. Other videos posted online depicted anti-aircraft systems in action around the city, which is located just 32 km (20 miles) east of Russia's border with NATO-member Estonia.

Moscow asserted that it successfully thwarted all the attacks on Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia is working to determine the origin of the drone launches in order to prevent further strikes. President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed about the attacks, as is customary in such "massive attacks," according to Peskov.

Kyiv confirmed that the Russian planes were destroyed in Pskov but did not provide further details about the incident. Additionally, Moscow reported that Ukrainian drones attempted to attack a TV tower in the Bryansk region but caused no casualties.

Russia also claimed that its aircraft destroyed four Ukrainian fast-attack boats carrying up to 50 paratroopers in the Black Sea. Furthermore, Russian forces successfully repelled enemy drone attacks. Ukraine, on the other hand, stated that its air defenses shot down 28 Russian missiles and 15 out of 16 drones that were fired overnight.

Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, described the attacks as a massive, combined assault using drones and missiles. He noted that Kyiv had not experienced such a powerful attack since spring. Ukrainian forces have been engaged in a summer offensive for nearly three months, but they have yet to break through Russia's heavily fortified defenses, despite claiming to have penetrated the first main defensive line in the past week.

In a different development, followers of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Russia's Wagner army, paid tribute at his burial site on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Prigozhin died in a plane crash six days prior and foul play is being investigated as one of the potential causes. The Kremlin stated that various possibilities are being considered, including the notion of a deliberate atrocity. Prigozhin, along with two top Wagner lieutenants and four bodyguards, was among the ten individuals who lost their lives in the crash. This incident occurred two months after Wagner staged a brief mutiny in Moscow.

The Kremlin vehemently denied Western allegations that President Putin was responsible for the crash, dismissing them as an "absolute lie."

FutureCar Staff