Ukraine's Missile, Drone Strikes Hitting Ever Deeper Inside Russia

New, longer range weapons provided to Ukraine by NATO or developed by Ukrainians are striking deeper inside Russia, from Crimea in the south to Moscow in the north - and anywhere of significance in between. 

Aside from depleting military capabilities, the objective is to bring home to ordinary Russians, and to the elites, that Ukraine is not going away. JL

Brendan Cole reports in Newsweek:

As of September 2023, more than 190 suspected drone attacks on Russian territory involving military infrastructure and associated sites had been targeted. Blasts were reported at around 8 a.m. on Friday morning in Smolensk, located around 50 miles east of Russia's border with Belarus and around 200 miles north of Ukraine. "We are learning to live in a new reality comrades."

A military facility in western Russia is the site of the latest incident in which the Russians have said Ukraine has attacked their territory.

Blasts were reported at around 8 a.m. on Friday morning in Smolensk, located around 50 miles east of Russia's border with Belarus and around 200 miles north of Ukraine.

 

As of September 2023, more than 190 suspected drone attacks on Russian territory involving military infrastructure and associated sites had been targeted, according to BBC Verify.

Russian-language Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Russia's security services, said the drone had pierced the roof of the aviation factory, causing a 3-foot hole and a fire that was quickly extinguished. "No harm done. Only the roof was damaged," added the post about the site, which Ukrainian news outlets said produced X-59 missiles that Moscow uses to target Ukraine. Newsweek has yet to substantiate this claim. On October 1, three out of four drones that flew near the plant managed to damage it, Oboz.ua reported.

 

Video posted by Nexta, a pro-Ukrainian Eastern European news outlet, shows the moments when three explosions were heard and a flash appeared at around 8 a.m. Friday. Nexta said how locals took to social media, expressing concerns about the explosions, which were so loud that buildings shook.One person posted on Telegram how "we are learning to live in a new reality comrades. It is time to talk with our children about how to conduct themselves in such a situation."

 

Vasily Anokhin, Smolensk regional governor, said on Telegram that Russia's air defense in the Zadneprovsky district of the city had "destroyed Ukrainian drones," adding that there was no information about casualties.

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment about the claims. They come following a series of drone attacks over the last few months for which Kyiv did not claim direct responsibility for, at least initially.

The aftermath of a drone attack on a building in Moscow is shown in this illustrative image from August 23, 2023. Moscow has accused Ukraine of using drones to hit targets within Russia.GETTY IMAGES

On Thursday, a fire broke out at a Russian Defense Ministry facility near the city of Kotluban in the Volgograd Oblast in southern Russia. Blasts can be heard and smoke pouring into the air in one video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by Ukrainian journalist Maria Drutska.

Two days earlier, Russia said that its air defense systems had downed Ukrainian-launched drones overnight in the Moscow, Tambov, Bryansk and Oryol regions. The Ukrainian online outlet Strana.ua, as well as Baza, said that the missile weapons factory in the Moscow region, KB Mashinostroyeniya, was targeted.

 

In May, Russia blamed Ukraine for a drone attack in the first strike on the Russian capital since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion in February 2022.