The surprising and unexpected ground incursion in the Kursk region has provided Ukrainian troops with an initiative that the military high command is not willing to give up onWhile the Russian army is trying to regain control in a situation that has caught it off guard, kyiv seems willing to complement the offensive it is carrying out on the ground with other types of actions, in this case by air, and in this way diversify the fronts to which Moscow must pay attention.
While waiting for the Kremlin to react to the ground offensive, Ukraine last night bombed a Russian airfield in the Russian region of Lipetsk, almost 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border town of Khsrkiv. According to provisional data, nine people were injured in the attack, according to information provided by the Russian authorities.
According to Moscow, it was a “massive drone attack” that Moscow largely stopped, shooting down 75 enemy aircraft, but which forced the evacuation of four municipalities and set the airfield on fire.
“Last night, in an attempt by the kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with aerial vehicles “unmanned aerial vehicles against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation, air defense warning systems have intercepted and destroyed 75 unmanned aerial vehicles,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
Specifically, 26 drones were aimed at the already battered city of Belgorod, 19 at Lipetsk, seven at Kursk, five at Bryansk, four at Voronezh, one at Oryol, five at Crimea and eight at the Black Sea. In addition, seven unmanned vessels heading towards Crimea were destroyed.
The governor of the Lipetsk region of Russia, Igor Artamonov, has ordered the evacuation of four municipalities (Koptsevi Khutor, Fedorovka, Yakovlevka and Tinkovka) to ensure the safety of residents and “eliminate the consequences of the detonation of explosive objects.” He has therefore announced that a dozen temporary accommodation centres have been prepared. He also noted that air defences are working and has asked the population to remain in a safe place.
“Explosive objects were detonated far from civilian buildings. All emergency services are on the scene,” Artamonov wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that the region suffered a massive drone attack last night that left at least six people injured.
The governor asked citizens to refrain from publishing photos and videos of the damage caused by drones, “as they help the enemy to correct the direction and precision of their attacks,” according to Efe.
“There are calls on social media and instant messaging to abandon Lipetsk. These messages are sent by the enemy to spread panic,” he warned.
The Lipetsk region borders Kursk to the south, where Ukrainian troops invaded last Tuesday and have not been able to expel them from Russian territory until today, on the fourth day of fighting.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that anti-aircraft defense systems shot down a total of 75 Ukrainian drones over seven regions of the country last night, including 19 in the Lipetsk region.