Ukrainian emergency and rescue personnel standing by debris at the site of a destroyed supermarket after a Russian strike, in Kostyantynivka, eastern Donetsk region, on August 9, 2024.
Roman Pilipey | Afp | Getty Images
Ukrainian drones struck a key military airport in Russia’s Lipetsk region, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency in another Russian region this week in the face of Kiev’s continued cross-border offensive.
Ukrainian forces targeted the airport in Lipetsk — about 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the border with Ukraine — on Thursday night, hitting warehouses and a number of unspecified objects near the airport, Ukraine’s General Staff Command he said in a Telegram post translated by Google.
“Several sources of ignition were recorded, a strong fire broke out and multiple explosions were observed,” the Ukrainian military added, noting that the Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft are based in Lipetsk.
After a series of Google-translated Telegram updates, Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov said a “bulky“A drone attack had destroyed an energy infrastructure facility, resulting in power outages and in the announcement of a state of emergency in the municipal apartment.
“Right now, there are 9 people on the casualty list. Everyone is getting the necessary help,” Artamonov said in a later Google-translated Telegram update, without elaborating on the condition of those injured.
“The enemy is hitting civilians in Kursk and Belgorod, today they massively attacked our area with drones. We will not be afraid, we will not retreat, but we are not going to risk the lives of our people.” he added.
CNBC was unable to independently verify developments on the ground.
This is the second state of emergency imposed on Russian territory as Kiev continued its biggest incursion into enemy territory since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022. Earlier in the week, the Ukrainian offensive led to the evacuation of thousands of people and state of emergency declared in Kursk. Ukraine has not officially recognized the raid.
Kursk was still reporting missile threat alerts since Friday, according to Google-translated Telegram updates from regional governor Alexei Smirnov, who said the local situation remains “difficult.”
Moscow continued its own advances, with a Russian missile hitting a supermarket in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Friday. At least 10 people were killed and 35 others injured as a result, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko in a Google Translate translation. Telegram update.
Kiev’s cross-border incursion is unlikely to signal an attempt to seize Russian territory, but more likely a counterattack against similar attacks carried out by Moscow on Ukrainian soil, particularly in the Kharkiv region.
The attack on the Lipetsk airport comes after the Ukrainian military last Saturday he said carried out a strike on Russia’s Morozovsk Airport in the Rostov region, claiming to have hit local ammunition depots. In the same attack, the Ukrainian force said it had also targeted a number of oil depots and fuel and oil storage facilities in Rostov, Kursk and Belgorod.
“Russian fighter jets must be destroyed wherever they are, by all effective means. Hitting Russian airfields is also very fair,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Google-translated statement. Telegram update on August 3, after the Morozovsk strike.
On Thursday, the Kiev leader marked the first acknowledgment by his government of the cross-border attack, saying in night address that “Russia has brought war to our land and will have to feel what it has done.”
Asked whether Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk was in line with Washington’s position — which allows Kiev to use US-supplied weapons for defensive purposes — Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said: “It is consistent with our policy and we have supported Ukraine from the beginning to defend itself. themselves against the attacks coming from across the border and for the need of cross-fire.”
“So they’re taking actions to protect themselves from attacks coming from an area that’s within US policy where, you know, our weapons, our systems, our capabilities can operate,” he said.
Correction: Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft are based in Lipetsk. An earlier version misstated the type of aircraft found there.
