Ukraine leader defiant as drone strikes hit Russia again

Kyiv, 6 Dec: In a new display of defiance from Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to an eastern city near the front line Tuesday, while Russia reported that strategic sites inside the country were hit by drone attacks for a second day.
A fire broke out at an airport in Russia’s southern Kursk region that borders Ukraine after a drone hit the facility, the region’s governor said Tuesday. In a second incident, an industrial plant 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Ukrainian border was also targeted by drones, Russian independent media reported, apparently missing a fuel depot at the site.
Federal authorities did not immediately blame Ukraine. But Tuesday’s reported strikes were carried out a day after Moscow blamed Kyiv for unprecedented, similar attacks on two air bases deep inside Russia. The attacks on the Engels base in the Saratov region on the Volga River and the Dyagilevo base in the Ryazan region in western Russia were some of the most brazen inside Russia during the war. In the aftermath, Russian troops carried out another wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian territory struck homes and buildings and killed civilians.
Marking Ukraine’s armed forces day, Zelenskyy traveled to the eastern Donetsk region Tuesday and vowed to push Russian forces out of all of Ukraine’s territory.
“Everyone sees your strength and your skill. … I’m grateful to your parents. They raised real heroes,” Zelenskyy said in a video address to Ukrainian forces from the city of the Sloviansk, a key Ukrainian stronghold in the east.
Ukrainian officials have not formally confirmed carrying out the drone attacks, maintaining their apparent policy of deliberate ambiguity as they have done in the past when it comes to high-profile attacks on Russian targets.
But presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak taunted Moscow in comments on Twitter.
“If something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to the point of departure,” Podolyak wrote. “The earth is round.”
The attacks on Russian bases more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine were deeply embarrassing and exposed the vulnerability of some of Russia’s most strategic military sites, raising questions about the effectiveness of their air defenses. They also threatened a major escalation of the nine-month war. One of the airfields houses bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Russian military bloggers once again took their anger online, criticizing the perceived lack of proper fortifications that allowed the attacks to happen.
A Russian pro-war blogger posting on the Telegram channel “Milin-folive” on Monday hit out at Russian military leader-ship, alleging that incompet-ence and lack of proper fortifications at the airbases made the alleged Ukrainian drone strikes possible. Another blogger pointed to the reputational damage inflicted by the attacks.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said three Russian servicemen were killed and four others wounded by debris, and that two aircraft were slightly damaged.
The Engels base hosts Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in strikes on Ukraine. Dyagilevo houses tanker aircraft used for mid-air refueling.
In a daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia was likely to consider the base attacks as “some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine.” (AP)