Ukraine drone strikes hit major Russian satellite centre near Moscow – National

Ukrainian drones struck a Russian satellite communications centre in the Moscow region on Tuesday, Kyiv said, while Russian authorities claim to have shot down hundreds of drones overnight.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote that long-range defences had reached the Dubna space communications centre in the Moscow region.

“This is a special satellite communications facility used, in particular, for reconnaissance and for coordinating the activity of Russia’s occupation contingent in Ukraine,” he wrote, adding that the targeting of such centres was part of a broader plan to stifle Russia’s “invasion operations against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories.”

“Relevant actions are also being prepared against other similar enemy facilities,” the statement concluded.

It was shared with footage that appears to show drones flying over Russian airspace in both urban and rural areas. Explosions and sirens can be heard, and plumes of smoke are also visible.

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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram post Tuesday morning that “Another massive attack by enemy drones has been repelled. Since 8:00 PM, air defense forces have destroyed 61 UAVs on approach to Moscow alone.”

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In a separate Telegram update, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had intercepted or destroyed 419 Ukrainian drones by Monday evening, according to the New York Times and ABC News.

In his announcement of the attack on the Russian telecommunications centre, Zelenskyy noted that it was more than 500 kilometres from the Russia-Ukraine border

“Recently, our Defense Forces of Ukraine already reached four such Russian centers, not only in the Moscow region but also in the Vladimir region,” he wrote.

“Step by step, we are implementing our plan of long-range sanctions and making it as difficult as possible for the aggressor state to carry out its invasion operations against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories.”

The strikes on Dubna follow a heavy drone assault on a major oil refinery in the south of Russia Sunday, which Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged created a “certain deficit” of fuel, and he vowed to strengthen the protection of oil facilities and boost output, The Associated Press reported.

Ukraine has markedly stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for its invasion — now in its fifth year — and make Russians feel the consequences.

“Our ‘long-range sanctions’ reached two oil refineries in Russia,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. “Each [strike] means a reduction in the resources that fuel the Russian war machine, and another step toward peace.”

The campaign has stifled Russian fuel supplies, causing widespread shortages and long lines at gas stations across the country and prompting authorities in many regions to introduce fuel rationing.

Speaking to a Russian state TV reporter, Putin described the Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries as an attempt to “cause a split in Russian society and force Russia to halt.”

“We will not give them that chance,” Putin said, adding that “strikes on our infrastructure, wherever they are directed, have absolutely no effect on the situation at the front, on the line of contact.”

— with files from The Associated Press

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