Ukraine attacked an oil depot in northern Russia with drones overnight, a Ukrainian security service source told AFP on Thursday – a new example of an attack on Russian territory.
• Also read: Ukraine's goal in 2024 is to “throw” Russia out of the sky.
• Also read: Russia says it neutralized several Ukrainian drones and injured a child
According to this source, Ukrainian military intelligence is responsible for this operation in the Leningrad region (northwest) around Saint Petersburg and is located almost 1,000 km from the Ukrainian border.
Targets were hit, this source said, confirming information published in the Ukrainian press.
In recent months, Ukraine has increased its attacks in Russia, but has generally focused on border regions such as Belgorod.
However, the country has already commented on sabotage operations in areas much further afield, even in the Russian Far East.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday that it had “intercepted” a drone in the Leningrad region, which is very rarely affected by attacks of this kind.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told him that another such device had been shot down in the town of Podolsk, south of the capital.
“According to preliminary information, there was no damage or injuries at the site where the debris fell,” he assured.
Since last spring, the Moscow region and the capital have been regularly attacked by drones, which are usually shot down without any casualties.
The Belgorod region is trying to adapt to repeated Ukrainian bombings. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Thursday that “ten rockets” heading towards Belgorod had been shot down by Russian forces.
That attack injured a woman who was hit by fragments of ammunition, Mr. Gladkow said, adding that in one village the windows of a house and a garage were broken and power lines and gas pipes were damaged.
On December 30, the city of Belgorod was hit by the deadliest attack on Russian soil since the invasion of Moscow on February 24, 2022. Results: 25 dead, around a hundred injured and the evacuation of several hundred people.