Oct. 20 (UPI) — The Kremlin said Sunday its air defense systems downed more than 100 Ukrainian drones overnight, as Kyiv claims its attacks struck an important munitions plant and a military airfield in western Russia.
The Kyiv strikes mark one of Ukraine’s largest assaults on Russia during the more than 2 1/2-year war.
Moscow’s Ministry of Defense announced the Ukrainian assault on Telegram, claiming all 110 drones fired by Kyiv were intercepted and destroyed.
According to the statement, 43 were downed over Kursk, near northern Ukraine; 27 over Lipetsk; 18 over Oryol; eight over Nizhny Novgorod; seven over Belgorod; six over Bryansk; and one over Moscow.
Gov. Gleb Nikitin of Nizhny Novgorod, located about 275 miles due east of Moscow, stated the Kyiv assault targeted the state-owned Sverdlov Plant in Dzerzhinsk city.
He said, also on Telegram, that four fire department employees of the plant received minor shrapnel wounds, were treated and sent home.
While Russia claimed that the attack had been thwarted, Ukraine celebrated.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that attacks on the military plant and airfield had hit their targets.
“Numerous explosions” were reported at the Dzerzhinsk plant and the military airport in Lipetsk, it said, adding the results of the strikes were being clarified.
The Dzerzhinsk plant is under U.S. and European Union sanctions. Washington states it produces explosives, industrial chemicals, detonators and ammunition for the Kremlin army. Kyiv’s military said guided aviation bombs were also stored on the premises.
Targets at the Lipetsk airfield included ammunition depots, fuel and lubricant storage sites and aviation equipment, Kyiv said.
Gov. Igor Artamonov of Lipetsk had broadcast the attack on his region via Telegram and maintained, after it concluded, that no casualties were reported and “fires that broke out on the ground after the UAV crash were quickly extinguished.”
In Oryol, Gov. Andrey Yevgenyevich Klychkov reported no casualties or damage from the attack, and Kursk Gov. Alexei Smirnov warned about the Kyiv strike but made no further comments.
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine overnight, injuring at least 17 people in central Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s state emergency services said on Facebook.
Russia has bombarded Ukraine with missiles and drones since the war began Feb. 23, 2022.
Under the weight of sanctions and global isolation, Russia has turned to Iran and North Korea to supply its armory. In particular, the Kremlin has secured drones from Iran, which continues to reject accusations of supplying Russia with weapons.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in his Sunday night address to the nation that, so far this year, Russia has launched some 6,130 Iran-manufactured Shahed drones at Ukraine.
Over Friday night, 129 drones had been launched by Russia at Ukraine alone, he said.
Zelensky added that Ukraine manages to shoot down many of them with its electronic warfare systems, but “we need the capability to destroy not only the storage bases for the Shaheds but also the entire infrastructure for their production and logistics.”
“Unfortunately, terrorists know how to take advantage of the time that the free world’s indecision gives them,” he said.