Ukraine says Russia had destroyed homes in the south and knocked out power in the north in a new round of missile attacks as Russian President Vladimir Putin drove across a bridge to Crimea that was damaged by an attack in October.
A new missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired.
The strikes plunged parts of Ukraine back into freezing darkness with temperatures now firmly below zero.
However Ukraine said it shot down most of the missiles.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones attacked two air bases at Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia, killing three servicemen, wounding four and damaging two aircraft, Russia’s defence ministry said.
Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for the attacks.
If it was behind them, they would be the deepest inside the Russia since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.
One of the targets, the Engels air base near the city of Saratov, about 730km southeast of Moscow, houses bomber planes belonging to Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.
“The Kyiv regime, in order to disable Russian long-range aircraft, made attempts to strike with Soviet-made unmanned jet aerial vehicles at the military airfields Dyagilevo, in the Ryazan region, and Engels, in the Saratov region,” the Russian defence ministry said.
It said the drones, flying at low altitude, were intercepted by air defences and shot down, with the wreckage causing light damage to two aircraft.
The deaths were reported on the Ryazan base, 185km southeast of Moscow.
The Russian defence ministry called the drone strikes a terrorist act aimed at disrupting its long-range aviation.
Despite that, it said, Russia responded with a “massive strike on the military control system and related objects of the defences complex, communication centres, energy and military units of Ukraine with high-precision air- and sea-based weapons” in which it said all 17 designated targets were hit.
Ukraine said it shot down more than 60 of more than 70 missiles fired by Russia on Monday – the latest in weeks of attacks targeting its critical infrastructure that have cut off power, heat and water to many parts of the country.
Ukraine’s forces have demonstrated an increasing ability to hit strategic Russian targets far beyond the 1100 km-long frontline in south and eastern Ukraine.
Saratov is at least 600km from the nearest Ukrainian territory.
Russian commentators said on social media that if Ukraine could strike that far inside Russia, it might also be capable of hitting Moscow.
Meanwhile, Putin on Monday drove a Mercedes across the Crimean Bridge linking southern Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, less than two months since an explosion tore through one of the Kremlin chief’s showcase infrastructure projects.
The 19km road and rail bridge, which was opened by Putin in 2018, was bombed on October 8 in an attack Russia said was carried out by Ukraine.
Putin, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, was shown on state television behind the wheel of a Mercedes, asking questions about where the attack took place.
“We are driving on the right hand side,” Putin said, as he drove across the bridge.
“The left side of the bridge, as I understand it, is in working condition, but nevertheless it needs to be completed. It still suffered a little, we need to bring it to an ideal state.”
Putin also walked along parts of the bridge, Europe’s largest, to inspect sections that are still visibly scorched.
Ukraine never claimed responsibility for the bombing of the bridge on the morning of October 8, a day after Putin’s 70th birthday.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said the attack was organised by Ukrainian military intelligence.
The explosion wrecked one section of the road bridge, temporarily halting traffic across the Kerch Strait.
The blast also destroyed several fuel tankers on a train heading towards the annexed Crimean peninsula from neighbouring southern Russia.
with AP
