Russian missiles streaked over Ukraine before dawn on Saturday, again targeting the country’s already battered energy grid in a widespread and sophisticated bombing campaign, while Ukrainian drones flew in the other direction, targeting vital oil and gas Refineries and other targets within Russia.
The Ukrainian Air Force said its air defense groups intercepted 21 of 34 Russian cruise and ballistic missiles launched from land, air and sea-based systems, but the attack targeted four thermal power plants and other key parts of the power grid. Caused widespread damage. in three regions.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it shot down 66 Ukrainian drones in the Krasnodar region, across the Kerch Strait in southern Russia and east of the occupied Crimean peninsula.
Veniamin Kondratiev, the head of the regional government, said Ukrainian drones targeted two oil refineries, an asphalt plant and a military airport in Kuban.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the Ukrainian military operation targeted the Kushchevsk airport and the Ilsky and Slavyansk oil refineries. The agency said in a statement that the airport hosts “dozens of military aircraft, radars and electronic warfare equipment,” adding that “the SBU continues to effectively target military and infrastructure facilities behind enemy lines, reducing the likelihood of Russia waging war.” “
The Kremlin tightly controls information about Ukraine attacks, which often makes it difficult to assess their impact, and it is unclear how much damage the drone strikes have caused.
Russia also bans criticism of its war efforts, actively suffocate Hundreds of people are arrested as part of a broad crackdown on dissent for anyone deemed critical of the military. Russian authorities arrested Forbes Russia reporter Sergei Mingazov on Friday over his role in the war before the war broke out, Russian officials and his lawyer Konstantin Bubon said. Chu retweeted information about Russian atrocities on social media.
While Russian authorities often deny or downplay the impact of attacks in Ukraine, attacks on oil and gas facilities are difficult to cover up.British military intelligence estimated last month that such attacks disturbed Account for at least 10% of Russia’s refining capacity. On March 1, the Kremlin imposed a six-month ban on gasoline exports, a move that appeared to be aimed at averting shortages and preventing domestic prices from soaring.
Ukraine has vowed to use its growing fleet of domestically produced long-range attack drones to increase attacks inside Russia, even as attacks on oil and gas infrastructure heighten tensions between Kyiv and Washington.The Biden administration has public condemnation They fear the attacks could lead to larger Russian retaliation and drive up prices in global energy markets.
“These attacks could have ripple effects on the global energy situation,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told Congress this month. “Ukraine is better suited to pursue tactical and operational objectives that directly impact the ongoing battle.”
The Biden administration’s stance is at odds with other allies that support Kyiv’s use of its domestically produced weapons to attack what Ukraine considers legitimate military targets.
Russia gets about a third of its state budget from oil and gas, and Ukrainian officials said attacks on those facilities struck at the heart of the Kremlin’s wartime economy. They also hope to undermine Russia’s ability to wage war over time, since refined products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are critical to sustaining any large military force.
“Ukraine has the right to strike legitimate military targets outside its borders to defend itself,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this month when asked about attacks on Russian oil and gas facilities.
But Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid are also taking a growing toll as Moscow seeks to undermine Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, strangle its economy, deepen the suffering of millions of civilians and cripple the country’s ability to function.
Since resuming large-scale bombing of electricity production facilities in late March, Russia has focused many of its attacks on thermal and hydroelectric power plants, which are important for keeping the overall system balanced during peak electricity demand periods.
Energy officials said Russia had destroyed 80% of Ukraine’s thermal power generation capacity before Saturday’s attack. The extent of the damage from the latest bombing was still being determined Saturday, but the cumulative impact was growing and could cause lasting problems, energy officials said Saturday.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal said in a statement that “the massive damage recently caused by Russia cannot be repaired in weeks or even months” and urged people to “save electricity.”
While U.S. military aid is flowing into Ukraine for the first time in months, Ukraine’s air defenses remain stretched thin and short of ammunition. Ukraine is particularly vulnerable to Russian ballistic missiles and can usually only be countered with advanced U.S.-made Patriot missiles.
“We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday during a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of about 50 countries that provides military and missile support to Kyiv. humanitarian aid. “This is how lives can and should be saved now.”
Kyiv’s allies supplied three Patriot batteries after Russia bombed Ukraine’s energy grid in the winter of 2022-23. But the interceptor missiles they used were insufficient. Germany said it would soon deliver a fourth Patriot battery, and Ukrainian officials were taking urgent diplomatic action to secure more needed systems and munitions.
Ivan Necheplenko Contributed reporting.
