Ukraine with “massive” attack against air base in Russia

“A massive attack” by Ukrainian drones has led to explosions and power outages, Lipetsk governor Igor Artamonov said on the Telegram messaging service on Friday night.

The governor claims that Ukraine is behind psychological warfare by using social media to urge people in the city of Lipetsk to evacuate.

At the same time, Artamonov has introduced a state of emergency in parts of Lipetsk. He says that the Russian authorities have evacuated residents of four villages. Some of the villages are located near an air base outside the city of Lipetsk.

– Six people injured

At 6 o’clock on Friday morning, Russian air defenses were still activated. According to Artamonov, six people have been injured as a result of the drone attack.

The Ukrainian military confirms that it attacked a military Russian airbase in Lipetsk on Friday night.

– Last night, the Ukrainian defense forces attacked the air base in Lipetsk, writes the military staff of Ukraine’s defense in a post on Telegram.

Furthermore, they write that, among other things, they hit warehouses with precision-guided bombs.

– Shoot down 75 drones

The state-run Russian news agencies Tass and Ria Novosti reported that a fire had broken out at an air base in Lipetsk, but did not give a reason.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claims it has shot down 75 Ukrainian drones on the night of Friday, and 19 of these should have been in Lipetsk.

At the same time, Ukraine’s air defense claims that all 27 drones that Russia sent into Ukraine during the night were shot down.

Claims new offensive in Kursk

The city of Lipetsk is located around 330 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The Russian region of Kursk lies between Lipetsk and the border. According to the Russian authorities, Ukrainian forces have been engaged in an offensive in Kursk for several days.

About a thousand Ukrainian soldiers and more than 20 tanks and armored vehicles have reportedly crossed the border into Russia. Ukraine has neither denied nor confirmed this, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia “should know what they have done”.

The American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) refers to sources that say Ukrainian forces have moved up to 35 kilometers into Russia. How much Russian territory the Ukrainians control is unclear, however.