Ukrainian strikes hit a major Russian satellite facility near Moscow – National
Ukrainian warplanes hit a Russian satellite communications center in the Moscow region on Tuesday, Kyiv said, and Russian authorities said they had shot down hundreds of drones overnight.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote that long-range defenses have reached the Dubna space communications center in the Moscow region.
“This is a special satellite communication center used, in particular, to re-identify and coordinate the activity of the Russian occupation of Ukraine,” he wrote, adding that the targeting of such centers was part of a wider plan to prevent “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories.”
“Appropriate actions are also being prepared against other similar enemy facilities,” the statement concluded.
Images have been shared that appear to show drones flying over Russian airspace over urban and rural areas. Explosions and sirens were heard, and smoke was also seen.
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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram post on Tuesday morning that “Another massive attack by enemy aircraft has been repelled. Since 8:00 PM, the air defense forces have destroyed 61 UAVs approaching Moscow alone.”
In another Telegram update, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had captured or destroyed 419 Ukrainian drones as of Monday evening, according to the New York Times and ABC News.
In his announcement of the attack on the Russian communications center, Zelenskyy noted that it was more than 500 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border.
“Recently, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have already reached four Russian facilities, not only in the Moscow region but also in the Vladimir region,” he wrote.
“Step by step, we are implementing our long-range sanctions program and making it as difficult as possible for the invading regime to carry out its activities of attacking Ukraine and the occupation of our territories.”
An emergency worker responds to a MAZ truck on fire after a Ukrainian airstrike in Svatovo, northwest of Lugansk. No injuries were reported.
Russia Emergency Ministry/TASS via ZUMA Press
The strikes in Dubna follow a deadly drone attack on a major oil refinery in southern Russia on Sunday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin admitting to a “certain shortage” of fuel, and vowing to tighten protections at oil facilities and increase output, the Associated Press reported.
Ukraine has dramatically stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military factories and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue from its offensive – now in its fifth year – and make the Russians feel the consequences.
“Our ‘long-range sanctions’ have reached two oil refineries in Russia,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. Each one [strike] it means a reduction in Russia’s war-making resources, and another step towards peace.”
The campaign blocked the supply of Russian fuel, causing widespread shortages and long lines at gas stations across the country and prompting authorities in many regions to introduce fuel rationing.
Speaking to a Russian state TV reporter, Putin described Ukraine’s attack on oil refineries as an attempt “to create a split in Russian society and force Russia to stop.”
“We will not give them that chance,” Putin said, adding that “strikes on our infrastructure, wherever they are directed, have no effect on the situation at the front, on the line of communication.”
— via files from The Associated Press
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