Russia and Ukraine have been engaging in major aerial battles, targeting energy and transportation infrastructure, as Moscow presses its fierce ground assault in the Ukrainian east in the war’s fourth year and tests a type of hypersonic weapon.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced on Sunday that its air defences shot down 361 drones, four guided aerial bombs, and rockets from a US-made high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) overnight.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported bringing down a ballistic missile and 164 drones of different types.
Russian authorities and Ukraine’s military confirmed that a main target of Ukrainian drones was the Kirishi oil refinery in Russia’s northwestern Leningrad region – one of the largest in the world’s second-biggest oil-exporting country.
“Explosions and fire were recorded at the refinery,” Ukraine claimed, calling it a “successful strike”. But the scale of the damage, if any, could not be independently verified.
Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of the Leningrad region, said that three drones were destroyed in the Kirishi area and that a fire sparked by falling debris had been put out. He said no one was injured.
Attacks on energy infrastructure by both Russia and Ukraine come as United States President Donald Trump has said he is ready to sanction Russia, but only if all NATO allies agree to completely halt buying oil from Moscow and impose their own sanctions.
Also in Russia’s Leningrad, two freight trains in separate parts of the region derailed early Sunday, leaving a train driver killed and disrupting railway traffic, according to Governor Drozdenko.
An oil company in Russia’s Bashkortostan region will maintain production levels despite a drone attack on Saturday, the region’s Governor Radiy Khabirov said.
The incidents came shortly after an explosive device detonated on a section of rail track in Russia’s western Oryol region late Saturday, killing three people.
Ukraine did not claim responsibility for these incidents, as with previous ones hitting Russia’s railway network, but its military said it continues to target infrastructure used by Russia to deliver troops, fuel and ammunition to the front lines.
Ukraine’s Commander of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov told Ukrainian online video channel Novyny Live that the country may intentionally reduce the quality of 4G and 5G mobile communications in certain areas to prevent Russian drones from accessing the internet to transmit images during attacks.
Separately on Sunday, Russia said it had fired a Zircon (Tsirkon) hypersonic cruise missile at a target in the Barents Sea as part of joint military exercises with Belarus.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said that long-range anti-submarine aircraft of the Northern Fleet’s mixed aviation corps were also involved in the “Zapad”, or West, joint strategic exercise, and that Su-34 supersonic fighter-bombers practiced a bombing strike against ground targets.
In the meantime, a drone breached Romanian airspace during a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian infrastructure overnight, with Romania dispatching fighter jets, which did not manage to shoot down the low-flying projectile before it left national airspace towards Ukraine.
Poland also deployed aircraft and closed an airport in the eastern city of Lublin amid Russian drone strikes on Ukraine, with the move coming three days after Poland shot down Russian drones in its airspace with the backing of aircraft from NATO allies.
NATO announced a new initiative on Friday to bolster the security of its Eastern European members in the wake of Russia’s violation of Polish airspace.
“NATO is launching Eastern Sentry to bolster our posture even further along our eastern flank,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in Brussels during a joint news conference with NATO’s top commander in Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich.
“This military activity will commence in the coming days and will involve a range of assets from allies, including Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany,” Rutte added.
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