Ukraine launches largest-ever drone attack on Russian airports after incursion puts Kremlin on defensive

CNN
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Ukrainian drones targeted four Russian airports on Wednesday in the largest such attack of the war, as Kyiv’s forces advanced deeper into Russia after a surprise cross-border incursion that left the Kremlin embarrassed and confused.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the military for attacks he called “precise, timely and effective,” in a video address released the same day he said Kyiv’s forces had captured Russian soldiers in southern Russia and destroyed a Russian fighter jet.

“Our Ukrainian drones work exactly as they should. However, there are things that cannot be done with drones alone,” Zelensky said.

A Ukrainian security service source told CNN the attack was the “largest attack” on Russian airports since the war began and targeted four bases in the southwestern regions of Kursk, Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow.

This comes as a large-scale Ukrainian ground incursion has forced tens of thousands of Russians from their homes and put Russia on the defensive as it struggles to hold off Kyiv’s forces.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it had destroyed 117 drones and four tactical missiles over Kursk and surrounding areas.

More than 35 drones launched by Ukraine were destroyed over the city, Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram on Wednesday.

Although there were no casualties, the attack damaged property, vehicles and municipal infrastructure, Gusev said, adding that there was a risk of more drone attacks.

The Ukrainian Air Force “destroyed a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber” in the Kursk region on Tuesday evening, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement on Wednesday.

In Belgorod, which borders Kursk, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov declared a regional state of emergency on Wednesday, describing the situation on the ground as “very difficult and tense” in a message on Telegram. Residents began evacuating on Monday due to the Ukrainian advance.

Gladkov said that regional authorities are now appealing to the Kremlin to declare a state of emergency at the federal level.

In his speech on Wednesday, Zelensky called for more support from Ukraine’s Western backers, saying: “We need other weapons – missile weapons. And we continue to work with our partners on long-term solutions for Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s Western partners have been reluctant to supply Kyiv with long-range missiles capable of penetrating deep into Russian territory.

Zelensky said his forces had advanced 1-2 kilometers in Russia’s Kursk region since the beginning of the day and captured 100 Russian soldiers.

Kyiv has already claimed to have seized about 1,000 square kilometres (386 square miles) of Russian territory since the start of its surprise offensive.

A video published by Agence France-Presse at a border crossing between Ukraine’s Sumy region and Kursk showed a Ukrainian truck carrying blindfolded men in Russian military uniforms travelling away from Russia.

CNN has contacted the Ukrainian military for comment on the video.

The Ukrainian incursion, which is a major embarrassment for the Kremlin, represents a marked change in tactics for Kiev, marking the first time foreign forces have entered Russian territory since World War II.

Since the incursion began, tens of thousands of Russians have fled their homes as Moscow struggles to contain the offensive, imposing counterterrorism operations in Kursk, Belgorod and another border region, Bryansk.

Russia has pulled back its reserves from key combat zones in Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea to fend off Kyiv’s advance, a Ukrainian military commander told CNN on Wednesday.

Dmytro Kholod, commander of the Nightingale Battalion, told CNN’s team on the ground in Sumy that the military has “information” that Russian soldiers are being withdrawn from Zaporizhia, Crimea and Kharkiv to stop Kyiv’s forces.

A Ukrainian minister said the aim of the operation in Kursk was to create a “security zone” on Russian territory to protect border communities, especially in Sumy, which has seen constant Russian artillery and missile bombardment throughout the war.

“The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily enemy attacks,” Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said on Telegram.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk also said Ukraine would open “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate civilians either to Ukraine or into Russia.

The latest Ukrainian move has prompted an angry Russia to take peace negotiations off the table for the foreseeable future.

Russia’s foreign ministry special envoy Rodion Miroshnik said at a briefing on Wednesday that Moscow would suspend talks with Ukraine “at least for a long time.” Peace negotiations between the warring countries have proven unsuccessful since the war began in February 2022.

Russia’s National Guard said on Wednesday it had increased security measures around the Kursk nuclear power plant in southwestern Russia.

Last week, the director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint to avoid a nuclear accident.

On Monday, Kyiv claimed to have seized roughly the same amount of territory as Russia has so far this year — though that still pales in comparison to the total Ukrainian territory Russia has controlled since the conflict began in 2014.

Zelensky said on Tuesday that Kyiv’s forces control 74 settlements in Kursk and are preparing for “next steps” in the region.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to “drive the enemy” out of Russia.

US President Joe Biden spoke about the incursion on Tuesday, saying he was receiving regular updates from staff and that it “creates a real dilemma for Putin.”