Damaged town hall, burning oil facilities: Russian authorities report numerous Ukrainian attacks – including on targets in the interior of the country. In addition, there was apparently an armed advance at the border, the success of which is unclear.
According to Russian information, Ukraine has attacked several Russian regions – including in the interior of the country. According to authorities, at least two oil facilities were hit.
According to local authorities, the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad and Tula regions were among those targeted by drone and missile attacks. A drone hit an oil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region and caused a fire, Governor Gleb Nikitin said. The region is about 775 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Another drone hit an oil depot in Oryol, 116 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Fires broke out in both places.
In the border town of Belgorod, a drone hit the town hall and injured two women, according to the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. The windows and facade of the building were damaged. The damage to the building could be seen in images published on online networks. According to the Ministry of Defense, several rockets were also intercepted over the region.
There was apparently one death in the Kursk region. According to authorities, the man was killed by shelling. Another person was also injured.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said another drone had been intercepted in the capital region. It was well south of the city center, but near Zhukovsky Airport, when it was shot down.
Russia: Breakthrough attempt repelled at the border
There was confusion over events on the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Kursk Governor Roman Starovoyt said via Telegram that fighters from Ukraine had tried to enter the border town of Tyotkino. “There was an attempted breakthrough by a sabotage and reconnaissance group. There was a firefight, but there was no breakthrough,” he wrote.
The Ministry of Defense also spoke of a foiled attempt to cross the border. As the Russian media quoted a spokesman, “Ukrainian formations” tried to advance into Russian territory around 3 a.m. “with the help of tanks and armored vehicles.” However, Russian forces were able to repel the attack.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
Pro-Ukrainian groups report armed advance
Pro-Ukrainian armed Russian groups had previously reported that they had crossed the border. These are the “Legion Freedom for Russia” and the “Siberian Battalion” who made this information via social media. A third group is also involved, the “Russian Volunteer Corps”. They are therefore made up of Russians who are hostile to the Kremlin.
Former Russian Duma deputy Ilya Ponomaryov, who lives in Ukraine, wrote on Telegram about fighting in Tyotkino. The hamlet of Losovaya Rudka in the Belgorod region is also said to be under the control of Putin’s opponents.
A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence said the Russian volunteer groups were not acting on Kiev’s orders in their attack. “On the territory of the Russian Federation, they act absolutely autonomously, on their own initiative, and pursue their social and political goals,” Andriy Yusov told Ukrainian media.
The Russian domestic secret service FSB, which is responsible for border security, also called reports of an intrusion across the border untrue. Nevertheless, authorities responded to the attacks: According to media reports, schools in Kursk switched to online classes for the rest of the week.
Russia reports terrain gains
Meanwhile, the Russian armed forces announced that they were continuing to advance in eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have taken control of the village of Nevelske in the Donetsk region, the Tass and Ria news agencies reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Ukrainian General Staff announced this morning that the Russian attacks on the front in the region had been repelled.
On Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj described the situation on the front as “better than it has been in three months.” The reason is that Moscow’s troops stopped advancing after the capture of the eastern city of Avdiivka last month, he said in an interview with the French broadcaster BFM.