Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war overnight, firing 70 missiles and 611 drones at targets across Ukraine, while Kyiv said it carried out retaliatory strikes on an oil facility and a major chemical plant deep inside Russian territory.According to the Ukrainian military, Russia launched the missiles and drones during overnight attacks that targeted multiple regions across the country. Preliminary data showed that Ukrainian air defences intercepted 50 missiles and 582 drones of various types. The scale of the barrage marks one of the heaviest combined missile and drone attacks launched by Moscow in recent months as fighting between the two countries continues with little sign of a breakthrough.Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had carried out massive strikes against military-industrial facilities and military airfields in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.The ministry claimed all the strikes had achieved their intended objectives.“All the strikes were successful,” the ministry said.The latest exchange came as Ukraine reported successful long-range attacks on Russian infrastructure linked to the war effort.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces struck an oil facility in Russia’s Yaroslavl region and the Azot chemical plant in the Tula region during overnight operations.Zelenskiy said the Azot facility was an important component of Russia’s explosives production chain. He also said Ukrainian forces had targeted Russian military logistics infrastructure in occupied areas of Ukraine.“Ukraine is carrying out its plan of long-range sanctions against Russia and the assigned tasks regarding mid-range strikes in response to Russia’s refusal to end this war,” Zelenskiy said.Russian officials acknowledged the attacks. Yaroslavl region governor Mikhail Yevryaev said the region had come under a large-scale Ukrainian drone assault.According to Yevryaev, most of the drones were intercepted, but some penetrated air defences and struck fuel storage facilities, triggering a major fire.He also warned residents of the possibility of another drone attack later in the day.Ukraine has steadily expanded its domestic drone and missile capabilities throughout the conflict, enabling it to hit targets far inside Russian territory. Kyiv has increasingly focused on Russian oil facilities, logistics hubs and military-industrial sites this year as part of its strategy to weaken Moscow’s ability to sustain military operations.The latest attacks underscore the continuing escalation in long-range warfare between the two sides, with both Russia and Ukraine increasingly relying on missiles and drones to target military infrastructure far from the front lines.
