Ukraine launches ‘massive’ drone attacks in Russia, officials say

Ukraine carried out “massive” drone strikes on several regions of Russia overnight, local officials said Tuesday, in what appears to be one of the most significant recent attacks in Ukraine’s campaign to paralyze the Russian war machine on its own territory.

The attacks, mainly in southwest Russia, are the latest in a series that have demonstrated Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside the country, even as kyiv’s forces face setbacks on their own territory.

Explosions were reported in the Bryansk border region, and drones also targeted areas far beyond, such as Saratov and Tula in western Russia, officials in those regions said.

The Ukrainian military did not immediately comment on the strikes. But Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, a government agency, said seven regions of Russia were attacked and the targets included military production plants and oil and gas facilities.

The threat forced at least six cities to restrict their airspace Tuesday morning, according to a statement from Russia’s Federal Aviation Agency. These included the towns of Saratov and Engels, both of which were attacked overnight.

Two industrial facilities were damaged, Roman V. Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, wrote on Telegram. “Today Saratov and Engels were subjected to a massive drone attack,” he said, using another name for drones. “The air defenses eliminated a large number of targets.”