kyiv’s army advances into territory, “massive drone attacks” launched overnight against Russian infrastructure

These night attacks come as a thousand Ukrainian soldiers have been taking part in a surprise offensive in the border region of Kursk since Tuesday.

The Ukrainian army continues its incursion into the Russian region of Kursk, but it is also putting pressure on the air. On the night of Thursday 8 to Friday 9 August, kyiv carried out drone attacks on several other regions of Russia. In Lipetsk, nearly 300 km from the border with Ukraine, the regional governor Igor Artamonov declared a state of emergency after a “massive attack” Ukrainian drone strike, which he said injured at least six people and damaged a power plant.

The Tass and Ria Novosti agencies, citing regional authorities, reported that a fire had broken out at a military airbase in the region, without specifying the cause.

Russian air defenses have also shot down 29 Ukrainian drones in the border region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, reporting material damage. Finally, in Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev reported attacks by air and sea drones.

These night attacks were launched at a time when Ukraine has been carrying out a surprise offensive since Tuesday in the border region of Kursk, with more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers, around ten tanks and around twenty armoured vehicles. “Russia brought war to our country and should feel it” the effects, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his speech on Thursday evening, without directly mentioning the incursion.

His adviser, Mykhailo Podoliak, said that this surprise offensive was a consequence of “the aggression” Russian in Ukraine. “A large part of the international community now regards Russia as a legitimate target for operations of any type and with any weapon,” he added, as many Western countries have banned Ukraine from using the weapons they supply to strike Russian territory.

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that “The operation to destroy the Ukrainian army formations continues,” in order to prevent kyiv soldiers from “penetrate deeply” in the region. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based research center, Ukrainian troops have penetrated up to 35 km inside Russian territory. Possibly as far as Sudja, a town of about 5,500 people located about ten kilometers from the border and which is home to a gas hub still supplying Europe via Ukraine, according to analysts quoted by AFP.