Ukraine’s military reported Tuesday of Russian drone strikes on energy facilities in the central Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad. An energy facility in Kirovohrad was reported to have been hit.
In the region of Dnipropetrovsk, nine drones were intercepted and destroyed causing two fires in the regional capital, Dnipro, which have been successfully extinguished, according to the regional governor’s statement on Telegram.
Meanwhile, a drone managed to strike a high voltage substation in Kirovohrad, igniting a fire. Grid operator Ukrenergo confirmed this on Telegram and the governor reassured that there were no casualties.
The general staff stated that the air defenses managed to eliminate nine of the ten incoming Russian drones. Over the last few weeks, Russia has been aggressively attacking Ukraine’s energy facilities, leading to notable damage to the power grid and blackouts across different regions.
This occurs as a strong aid to President Vladimir Putin claimed on Tuesday that Nato was essentially engaging Russia in Ukraine and that the US-led military alliance had been involved in planning attacks on Russian territory.
Nikolai Patrushev, Russian Security Council Secretary and a significant ally of Putin, said that NATO, with its 75-year history since its establishment in April 1949, has proven to be a persistent source of “threat, crisis, and strife”. He added that this alliance plays a role in the Ukrainian conflict and is actively participating in the shelling of Russian territories.
Over the past year, Ukraine has made significant strikes on Russian territory, targeting oil refineries and weapons facilities with drones, and repeatedly shelling Russian border regions. Despite the devastation of significant territories and loss of thousands of lives, Kyiv claims it fights for its survival against a harsh war.
The United States has regularly stated it does not endorse Ukrainian strikes within Russia.
In other news, the Belarusian Ministry of Defence confirmed that military exercises commenced on Tuesday in regions sharing borders with Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland who are members of the European Union.
The military departments of the Gomel and Grodno territories are holding three-day training exercises to prepare officers and territorial defence teams on how to respond if martial law is declared and how to protect their regions. This information was communicated via the Telegram messaging app by the ministry. There has been increased tension between Belarus, a close ally of Russia, and its western and Ukrainian neighbours for some time, especially after Belarus was used as a launchpad for Russia’s February 2022 attack on Kyiv.
The strained situation between Russia and Ukraine continued on Monday, with both nations reporting instances of shooting down adversary drones over the Black Sea. The usage of unmanned aircraft seems to be rising as conflict intensifies. According to Russia’s defence ministry, its air defence teams intercepted six Ukrainian drones planning a “terrorist attack”, and two additional drones were shot down in the border zone of Belgorod.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force shared that they had downed a Russian “Forpost” drone, which is regarded as one of the most cutting-edge and expensive in Russia’s stock. The Forpost, according to military publications, is a version of a surveillance drone used by Israel for multiple decades and is capable of conducting sustained surveillance at a 5km altitude for 16 hours.
According to Natalia Humeniuk, a representative for Ukraine’s southern group of forces, Russian forces have increased drone usage following Ukrainian air defence units’ success in downing at least two A-50 Surveillance planes. She reported that they had seen over 200 reconnaissance drones in their region, stretching from Odesa to Zaporizhzhia, in the preceding day.
In response to the escalating conflict, Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reiterated the need to increase domestic drone production with a target of reaching one million units by 2024. In his nightly video speech, Zelenskiy urged for the defence industry to respond to the war needs as promptly and efficiently as possible.
“It’s evident that the success in this conflict will pivot around drones, a factor that needs to be under Ukrainian control. Victory should be aided by Ukrainian drones,” he contended. “There is a demand for an increased number and improved efficiency of Ukrainian drones,” he communicated to Reuters.