Ukrainian officials reported Saturday that a 9-year-old boy was killed and a major oil terminal was set on fire by Ukrainian drone strikes on southern Russia. This came the day after Moscow launched a massive aerial attack on its neighbor, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was one of the most intense bombardments of the country’s energy sector since Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.
On Saturday morning, local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov posted on the Telegram messaging app that the youngster had died after a drone hit his family’s house outside Belgorod, a Russian city close to the Ukrainian border. According to Gladkov, his mother and sister, who was 7 months old, were admitted to the hospital due to injuries.
He shared pictures of what he claimed to be the attack’s aftermath, which included a low-rise home with massive holes in the front wall and top, surrounded by piles of debris.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck a significant oil terminal in the Oryol region of southern Russia overnight, causing a fire. Huge smoke plumes were seen filling the building in images released by the General Staff and Russian Telegram news channels, with an orange glow behind them.
On Saturday, Oryol Governor Andrey Klychkov revealed that a gasoline storage there was set on fire by a Ukrainian drone strike. Later that day, he claimed there were no casualties and that the fire had been contained in a different Telegram post.
The Ukrainian strikes came a day after Russia bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, about half of which has been destroyed throughout the conflict, with around 200 drones and 93 cruise and ballistic missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow on Friday of frightening millions of people with rolling blackouts, which are frequent and extensive.
Russia continued its drone strikes on Saturday, launching 132 of the weapons over Ukrainian territory, according to Ukraine’s air force. According to the air force’s online statement, fifty-eight drones were shot down and another seventy-two swerved off course, most likely as a result of electronic jamming.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, the Russian military targeted vital fuel and energy facilities in Ukraine that support the military industrial complex with long-range precision missiles and drones.
According to the statement, the operation was a response to the Ukrainian attack on a Russian air base on Wednesday that used Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMs, that the United States had delivered.
Ukraine has received air defense systems from Kyiv’s Western partners to assist safeguard vital infrastructure, but Russia has attempted to overwhelm the defenses with coordinated attacks using swarms of missiles and drones.
This year, Russia has taken the lead as its forces have been systematically destroying Ukrainian positions in the east through a series of gradual offensives.
However, it’s unclear how the fight will play out next year. In addition to vowing to stop the war, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who assumes office next month, has raised questions about whether crucial U.S. military assistance for Kyiv would continue.
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