The Ukrainian Air Force struck a military facility in Russia's western Oryol region, destroying a drone storage, maintenance and repair facility, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Facebook on Dec. 28.
The General Staff said this combat operation "significantly reduced the enemy's ability to carry out airstrikes using kamikaze drones against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure."
The attack took place on Dec. 26 and targeted a Russian Defense Ministry military facility between the village of Tsimbulova and the village of Rudnevo in the Bolkhov district of Russia's Oryol region.
Russian news outlet Astra claims that the facility was hit by three British-built Storm Shadow missiles, and that two people were killed and seven wounded in the attack. This information can't be independently verified.
The Oryol region had seen another Ukrainian attack on Dec. 22, when drones targeted an oil depot and set it on fire.
The same depot had been attacked just a week earlier, on Dec. 14, when Ukrainian drones caused a large fire to break out. The fire reportedly burned for several days after the attack.
The General Staff said after that attack that the depot in the region was one of the largest oil product terminals in Russia and was "part of the Russian military-industrial complex, supplying the Russian army with petroleum products."
Ukraine first deployed the British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles on Nov. 20, just one day after also deploying U.S.-made long-range ATACMS for the first time.
Since then, Kyiv has intensified its strike campaign on Russian territory, targeting military and industrial facilities to weaken Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
Martina Sapio
(Updated: )
