“SUCCESSFUL” STRIKE
In the energy-rich region of Tatarstan, a Ukrainian drone struck a gas storage tank, sending flames and thick smoke billowing into the sky near the city of Kazan, according to media and the regional government.
Tatar local media said a liquefied gas storage base was hit, and published images showing flames and black smoke.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had shot down six US-supplied ATACMS missiles and six British Storm Shadow cruise missiles that Ukraine had fired in the attack on the Bryansk region.
Ukraine’s army had earlier claimed it had hit a chemical plant near the town of Seltso, more than 100 kilometres from the border, that makes ammunition and explosives for Russia’s army.
“Drones successfully distracted Russian air defences, paving the way for missiles that hit the main targets,” the Ukrainian military’s Unmanned Systems Forces said.
Ukraine regularly targets military and energy sites in Russia, part of what it calls “fair” retaliation for Russia’s repeated barrages of its energy grid since Moscow invaded in February 2022.
The Ukrainian army vowed to pursue its “systematic” campaign against the Russian military-industrial complex until Russian “armed aggression against Ukraine is completely stopped”.
The air force separately said that its air defence systems had downed 58 Iranian-designed drones launched by Russia, while another 21 either were destroyed with electronic interference systems or crashed.
