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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular the war started by Moscow. He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China. Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English, knows Russian and French. You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.cole@newsweek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole.
Brendan Cole
Senior News Reporter
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Ukrainian drones targeted industrial sites across several Russian regions overnight Friday, including a facility which hosts Iranian-designed drones.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Saturday that sites in at least four regions had been targeted in the previous 24 hours, including oil fields under international sanctions and facilities critical to Russia’s military.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Scott Peterson/Getty Images
Why It Matters
Ukraine is stepping up its use of drones to target sites key to Russia’s military operations and show how Kyiv will hit back at Moscow’s continued bombardment on civilian infrastructure, especially after the Ukrainian capital faced its biggest attack since the start of the war.
What To Know
Ukraine’s General Staff said Saturday its drones targeted industrial sites in the Ryazan, Penza, Samara and Voronezh oblasts in Western Russia.
Ukrainian drones also hit the Primorsko-Akhtarsk military air base in the southern Krasnodar region that stored Shahed drones, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The Iranian drones have been key to Moscow’s bombardment of Ukraine and are now made in facilities across Russia.
In Penza, Ukrainian drones struck the Elektropribor plant, which produces digital networks in military command systems, aviation devices, armored vehicles, ships and spacecraft, according to the General Staff.
Russian Telegram channels reported explosions over the city, although officials have not commented on the strikes.
Further east, the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery in the Samara region was hit in a drone strike, with video footage posted on Telegram channels appearing to show flames rising from the site.
Ukrainian drones also targeted the Annanefteprodukt fuel and lubricants storage base located in the Voronezh region, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Russia is continuing with its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine.
Ukrainian air forces said Saturday that Russian strikes had killed six people and injured at least 37 others over the previous day. Air defense downed 45 out of the 53 drones, among them, Shahed-type attack drones, rocket-powered drones and decoys.
On July 31, Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv, which killed at least 31 people and injured 179 in one of the deadliest attacks on Ukraine’s capital in the war.
What People Are Saying
The SBU said in a statement that Friday’s strikes showed how it would “continue to actively work to weaken the military and economic potential of the aggressor country.”
What Happens Next
Ukraine’s drone launches show that Kyiv intends to continue with its strikes on Russian military sites.
The Kremlin shows no sign of easing up its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
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About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular the war started by Moscow. He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China. Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English, knows Russian and French. You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.cole@newsweek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole.
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular …
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