Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a brutal “night and day of horror” for Ukraine, attacking Kyiv’s civilians with waves of missiles and drones, killing at least 17.
Dozens were injured in Putin’s revenge strikes which left many more trapped under the rubble of destroyed houses and plumes of black smoke over the stricken capital. It was ordered after desperate Putin became increasingly furious over Ukrainian troops repeatedly hammering the Kremlin’s warchest oil and gas supplies in Russia.
Just hours before the attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned his citizens he believed a major Russian attack was heading their way. He said: “We know that Putin has been preparing a massive strike on Ukraine for some time now. Tonight, this is exactly the threat we face.”
View 4 ImagesAngry President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of attacks(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Almost 600 aerial weapons targeted the capital overnight including 496 attack and decoy drones plus ballistics and cruise missiles and even hypersonic weapons. At first light across the Ukrainian capital fires were burning after one of the most brutal nights Russia has imposed on Kyiv since war began more than four years ago.
A western security source told the Daily Mirror : “Although there is little strategic value in killing civilians this is what Putin always does -impose nights and days of horror on them. For some twisted reason he seems to think this might leverage Kyiv into giving up the war but it has boosted the Ukrainian resolve as it turns the tables on Russia. By most metrics, tanking economy, very slow progress, battlefield casualties and military and civilian morale, Russia is now believed to be losing this war and Putin is desperate.”
Kyiv’s long-range missile and drone strikes on Putin’s energy installations have led to major shortages and rationing of petrol across Russia and has crippled the war economy. Just hours earlier Ukraine’s military struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries in Kstovo, reportedly damaging a key processing unit and sparking a fire. Kyiv’s troops also hit a Russian drone warehouse in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, a logistics bridge in Luhansk, and a command post in the Kharkiv region. Russian officials said around three dozen Ukrainian drones attacked the region of Kstovo overnight, where the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery is one of Russia’s largest oil refining facilities.
View 4 ImagesA Kyiv residential building is hit by Russia(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
It ranks fourth in the country by processing capacity and second in gasoline production. The plant can process around 15 million tons of oil annually and produce approximately 5 million tons of gasoline, supplying fuel to the Moscow region. The targeting of the facility by Ukrainian drones has been a major blow to the Kremlin ‘s ability to pay for their invasion of Ukraine. Despite suffering major attacks on a near-daily basis from Ukraine, Russia has been probing surrounding NATO territories, according to reports.
A new study by the International Institute for Strategic Studies has mapped Russian incursions across NATO territory for the past 15 months. It says: ”The Russian campaign imposed tangible costs on European societies. Repeated closures of aviation hubs including Brussels, Copenhagen, Munich, Oslo and Vilnius disrupted civilian travel and eroded public confidence in airspace security. Meanwhile, the most sensitive military sites on the continent were repeatedly overflown.”
View 4 ImagesRussian leader Vladimir Putin is increasingly desperate(Image: Gavriil Grigorov/Pool Sputnik Kr)
It warns that most of the sighting of the suspected Russian drones were over sensitive sited. It says that “…48% of sightings occurred over military facilities; 18% were over civilian airports, many of which were forced to close; 26% were over critical infrastructure including ports, energy installations and industrial sites.” It includes: “Germany recorded the largest number of incidents – 58 – including six separate unexplained incidents of ‘possible spy drones’ over Ramstein Air Base and concurrent incidents over Bundeswehr facilities at Manching Air Base and Neuburg an der Donau.
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Other countries affected include Belgium -25-, Denmark -16-, the Netherlands -nine- France -eight-, the United Kingdom and Norway (seven each). Among the most significant specific incidents was a drone incursion towards Kleine-Brogel air base in northeast Belgium, which houses US nuclear weapons.