Russia claims that air defense systems “intercepted and destroyed” 75 drones in several regions.
Ukraine claims to have carried out attacks on several military targets in Russia, including an airfield and oil depots, as Russian authorities reported intercepting dozens of drones in several regions.
In a Facebook post, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday that its forces attacked an airfield in Morozovsk overnight, hitting ammunition depots with guided aerial bombs, as well as fuel storage facilities in the Belgorod, Kursk regions. and Rostov.
In Russia, local authorities reported that tanks at a fuel depot in the Kamensky district of the Rostov region caught fire as a result of a drone strike.
The Belgorod regional governor also said that drones launched by Ukraine caused a fire at a local oil depot, adding that the fire was extinguished and no one was injured.
Russian authorities did not respond to claims regarding the airfield, but Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said authorities had introduced a state of emergency in the Morozovsk district.
Golubev said the region was attacked by 55 drones, without specifying how many of them were intercepted and how many hit their targets.
“At the moment we have recorded damage to the windows of various social facilities, including schools and kindergartens, as well as in residential buildings and industrial facilities,” Golubev said on Telegram.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a statement that 36 drones were destroyed in the Rostov region.
Overall, the ministry added that its air defense systems “intercepted and destroyed” 75 drones in several regions bordering or not far from Ukraine, including Belgorod, Krasnodar, Kursk, Oryol, Rostov, Voronezh and Ryazan. . deepest region within Russia. One of these drones was also shot down over the Sea of Azov, the statement said.
A ‘security decision’
Ukraine has intensified airstrikes in recent months on Russian territory, saying it is carrying out attacks on places that supply Russia’s forces and economy in retaliation for the bombings it has faced since President Vladimir Putin sent his troops to the neighboring country in February 2022.
Ukrainian authorities have also repeatedly asked Western allies for permission to use their weapons in long-range strikes against Russia, as well as to strike military targets near the border.
“Russian combat aviation must be destroyed wherever it is, by all effective means. It is also quite fair to attack Russian airfields. We need this joint decision with our partners – a security decision,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media on Saturday.
“This is the only way to guarantee the protection of our people,” he said, adding that Russian forces used more than 600 guided aerial bombs to attack Ukraine last week.
Amid an intense Russian air campaign in recent months, Zelenskyy has put Ukraine’s need to improve air defenses at the top of his agenda in meetings with allies.
Several NATO countries have committed to supplying F-16 fighters and have been training Ukrainian pilots and crews for months.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
