Ukraine strikes hangars at the Saky airfield in Crimea, housing fighter jets. Ukraine strikes an oil refinery in Ufa and a missile component plant in Penza, Zelenskyi says. Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles now have almost half of Russia in reach, Bloomberg News says.
Ukraine strikes hangars at Saky airfield in Crimea, housing fighter jets
Ukraine’s Security Service carried out a strike on the Saky airfield in Crimea. The operation targeted the airfield’s infrastructure, particularly the hangars, housing fighter aircraft, the security service said in a post to social media on Wednesday.
The agency confirmed that five of its drones had hit the hangars, storing aircraft. It did not provide photos or video footage in support of the statement.
“According to preliminary reports, a Su-30 and Su-30SM fighter aircraft were inside two hangars at the moment of the strike. The strike ignited a fire in the hangar, housing a Su-30SM fighter jet. It shows the target was successfully hit,” the security service said.
Each aircraft’s estimated price varies between USD 30 million and USD 50 million, depending on functionality, it added.
“The Security Service of Ukraine systematically destroys the military potential of the Russian occupying force in the front lines and inside the enemy’s rear. No hangars or shelters will help — Ukraine’s Security Service will find the enemy anywhere,” the message reads.
Last week, the Alpha Special Operations Center of Ukraine’s Security Service struck Russian military supply ships docked at the Zatoka shipyard in Crimea’s Kerch.
Ukraine strikes oil refinery in Ufa, missile component plant in Penza, Zelenskyi says
The Ukrainian military struck the Ufa oil refinery in Russia for the second time in a week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in a post to X on Wednesday. The facility is one of Russia’s largest producers of lubricants. It sits more than 1,300 kilometers from the frontline, he said.
“For the second time, our sanctions in response to Russia’s prolongation of the war have reached the oil refinery in Ufa, one of Russia’s largest producers of lubricants,” Zelenskyi said.
Ukraine overnight also launched an aerial strike at a military complex in the Penza region, where Russia develops and manufactures components related to missiles, Zelenskyi added. The site is located about 600 kilometers away from the frontline.
“Every day, our plan for imposing Ukrainian long-range sanctions is being implemented. This is an entirely just response to everything Russia is doing against us. Peace is needed, and this is exactly what Russia’s leadership must realize. Russia must end its war. And Russia’s leadership has every opportunity to do so. I thank every Ukrainian warrior who ensures our long-range accuracy,” he said.
The Ukrainian military struck the Scientific Research Institute of Physical Measurements in Russia’s Penza region overnight on Wednesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a post to social media. The facility is part of the Russian Aerospace Systems company that, in turn, is part of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos. It builds sensors for cruise and ballistic missiles, including for Iskander, Kalibr and Kh-101 missiles, components for aircraft avionics, including for Su-34, Su-35 and Tu-95MS aircraft, as well as equipment for reconnaissance satellites, the General Staff said.
A drone attack on Penza on June 1 likely targeted a bearings plant.
Ukraine struck two oil refineries in Russia’s Ufa on June 25. The site sits 1,400 kilometers away from the border.
Ukraine’s Flamingo missiles now have almost half of Russia in reach, Bloomberg News says
Ukraine has expanded the range and intensity of its missile strikes inside Russia, triggering alerts across nearly half of the regions in the world’s largest country so far this year, Bloomberg News said on Wednesday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
Missile threats were declared in at least five regions of the Volga Federal District southeast of Moscow in the past week alone, as well as in the southern Astrakhan region and at least four regions in the North Caucasus. Similar warnings were also issued in the Moscow, Vladimir, Tambov, Orel and Lipetsk regions of central Russia.
Omsk region in western Siberia, nearly 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) east of the Ukrainian border recorded its first missile alert in June, as did the entire Ural region.
The scale and geographic reach of the attacks highlight how Ukraine’s tactics and long range strike capabilities have evolved as it attempts to bring the war closer to home for Russians. Kyiv is stepping up pressure on President Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks after more than four years of fighting.
Earlier in the war, missile alerts were largely confined to Russian regions bordering Ukraine as well as Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow’s forces. This year, however, the areas that are home to more than 70% of the country’s population have sounded the alarm at least once, according to a Bloomberg analysis of statements by regional authorities.
Ukraine is increasingly relying on domestically developed long range cruise missiles to complement its expanding fleet of attack drones, giving Kyiv the ability to strike military and industrial targets over greater distances inside Russia.
“This marks a significant evolution in Ukraine’s long range strike campaign,” said Douglas Barrie, a senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “Flamingo offers the ability to strike deep into Russia with a large warhead.”
The ability to strike Russian critical national infrastructure with long-range attack drones and cruise missiles “is having the effect of damaging elements of the Russian industrial war effort, hitting the economy, and underscoring to the Russian public that the war on Ukraine has a cost,” Barrie said.
This should translate into greater pressure on the Kremlin, but whether Putin will become more willing to negotiate is another question, he added.
Ukraine began producing the Flamingo last year and claims the missile has a range of up to 3,000 kilometers, potentially allowing it to hit targets across most of European Russia and, in theory, beyond the Ural Mountains.
In other news, Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo missiles struck the VNIIR Progress plant in Cheboksary, in Russia’s Chuvashiya region on June 10. The facility produces antennas that enable Russian drones and missiles to bypass Ukrainian air defenses.
Ukraine struck the Titan Barrikady military plant in Russia’s Volgograd with FP-5 Flamingo missiles on June 27. The facility produces missile launchers for Iskander, Yars and Topol missile systems.