(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian forces say they struck a military airfield as part of a large-scale drone attack on several Russian regions, and they also claim a hit on Friday sank a Black Sea Fleet submarine in Crimea.
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The nighttime UAV barrage hit the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region, where Russian glide bombs and other items are stored, the Ukrainian General Staff reported on Facebook. The base, in a region bordering parts of eastern Ukraine occupied by Moscow’s forces, is home to one of Russia’s fighter jet squadrons.
“Russian military aviation must be destroyed using all means that prove effective,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on social media. “It is also completely fair to attack Russian airfields. This is the only way to provide real protection for our people.”
Fuel depots were also hit and caught fire in the Belgorod and Rostov regions. In the Oryol region, a residential building was hit by a drone, without causing any fatalities, Russian news agencies reported.
It is unclear whether the strikes on Morozovsk hit air defense objects and aviation equipment. A total of 75 drones were shot down in the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Sunk on the spot
Separately, the General Staff reported in a Facebook post that the Russian B-237 submarine “Rostov-on-Don” was hit on Friday in the port of Sevastopol on the annexed Crimean peninsula.
“As a result of the impact, the boat sank on the spot,” the General Staff said.
The Kilo-class submarine, which can fire cruise missiles, was damaged in a September 2023 attack on a shipyard and was undergoing tests after repairs, a Ukrainian statement said. Ukraine also claimed a hit on an air defense missile complex in Crimea.
Russia has not yet commented.
Ukraine continues to attack military objects and other facilities used by Kremlin forces during their three-year invasion of Ukraine, including fuel depots, oil and gas refineries, and anti-missile radars.
Glide bombs are equipped with flight control surfaces that can extend their range. This week alone, Russia has fired more than 600 such projectiles into Ukraine, Zelenskiy said. Zelenskiy continues to seek support from Ukraine’s allies to hit targets deep inside Russia with Western weapons.
(Update with submarine attack from the first paragraph.)
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