Ukraine brings war to Russia in ‘massive’ drone strike on military, government targets

Ukraine on Friday continued its efforts to bring the war onto Russian soil as fighting rages on in Russia’s Kursk region, while “massive” drone strikes were also carried out against military and government targets in at least four other western regions.

Russia’s Lipetsk region, which sits just north of Kursk, came under attack by Ukrainian drone strikes early Friday in which an ammunition depot and warehouse were reportedly hit.

Some 700 Russian guided bombs were allegedly destroyed in the strike, East2West media sources told Fox News Digital. 

Local Governor Igor Artamonov also said that power supplies were disrupted after an energy facility was hit in the attack, Politico EU first reported.

Russian state media further reported that a military airfield was also on fire in the region following the strike in which some 19 drones were allegedly intercepted. 

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It is unclear how many drones were fired across the Lipetsk region, and further reporting showed that another 26 drones had been downed in the Belogrod region, located north of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and positioned just east of Kursk, according to local Ukrainian reporting.

Russia’s defense ministry reportedly claimed that 75 drones had been shot down overnight in several regions spanning Ukraine’s shared border with Russia, and an additional five drones were allegedly shot down over Russian-occupied Crimea in Ukraine’s south.

Multiple reports on Friday confirmed that Moscow has announced a “federal-level” state of emergency in Kursk, and the Ministry of Defense acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were approaching the strategic town of Sudzha after open-source reporting this week showed that Ukrainian forces had already captured a key military checkpoint and the Sudzha gas-distribution station.  

A video released by pro-Russia military bloggers was also circulated on Friday showing the remnants of a Russian convoy that apparently had been ambushed by Ukrainian forces on Thursday night. The graphic footage showed burned-out vehicles, including some that were filled with bodies of dead Russian soldiers. 

Up to 400 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed in a single HIMARS missile strike in the Kursk region as they were on the move to fight the Ukrainian army on August 9. (Photo Provided by East2West)

It is unclear what Ukraine’s primary objective in hitting Russian targets across five regions is, though sources have told Fox News Digital that Kyiv could be looking to divert Russian resources on the front lines by bringing the fight to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s homeland. 

Russia’s defenses within its borders are expected to be weakened as Moscow has focused its miliary aims along Ukraine’s eastern flank, where it has gained some ground this year. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has remained silent on the assault in Russia, as is consistent with Kyiv’s policy of silence amid ongoing operations, though in a Thursday night address he said, “Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done.”

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The Biden administration earlier this year relinquished its opposition to Kyiv using U.S. supplied weapons to hit Russian targets outside of Ukraine.

A satellite image shows damaged Sudzha border crossing in Oleshnya, Kursk Region on August 6, 2024, obtained by Reuters on August 8, 2024.  (Reuters)

In May, reporting suggested that the White House had given a silent nod of approval for Ukraine to defend against the barrage of Russian missile fire by allowing it to hit military targets just over the border with Kharkiv. 

But according to comments by Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh on Thursday, this approval was apparently granted to any strategic target beyond Ukraine’s shared border with Russia, so long as it was not deep within Russian territory. 

“As the dynamics have shifted on the battlefield, they’ve been able to actually push the Russians back further into Russian territory,” she said. “As [Ukraine sees] attacks coming across the border, they have to be able to have the capabilities to respond. And so you’re seeing some of these cross-border counter-fire measures.”

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks with Acting Governor of the Kursk region Alexei Smirnov via a video link outside Moscow, Russia on August 8, 2024.  (Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS)

But when asked about specific limitations on how far Ukraine is allowed to pursue “cross-border” attacks, she remained tight-lipped.

“We don’t support long-range attacks into Russia,” she told reporters. “I’m not going to put a specific range on it.”

“I’m not going to draw a circular map here for you of where they can and can’t strike, but we’ve been very clear with the Ukrainians,” she added.