Ukraine launches ‘massive’ drone attacks inside Russia, officials say

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine carried out “massive” drone strikes on several regions of Russia overnight, local officials there said Tuesday, in what appeared to be one of the largest recent assaults in Ukraine’s campaign to cripple Russia’s war machine on its home turf.

The attacks, mostly in southwestern Russia, were the latest in a series demonstrating Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside the country, even as Ukraine’s forces face setbacks on their own territory.

Blasts were reported in the border region of Bryansk, and drones targeted regions well beyond it like Saratov and Tula in western Russia, officials in those areas said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Ukraine had launched more than 140 drones, along with U.S.-made long-range missiles known as ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles provided by Britain.

“These actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by Western curators, will not go unanswered,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said it had attacked three regions of Russia and the republic of Tatarstan, including strikes nearly 700 miles into Russia. The targets included an oil storage base as well as military production facilities, the General Staff said in a statement.

The drone strikes forced at least six cities to restrict their airspace Tuesday morning, according to a statement from Russia’s Federal Aviation Agency. Those included the cities of Saratov and Engels, which were attacked overnight.

Two industrial plants sustained damage, Roman V. Busargin, governor of the Saratov region, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Today Saratov and Engels were subjected to a massive UAV attack,” he said, using the initials for unmanned aerial vehicle. “Air defenses eliminated a large number of targets.”

It was the second time in a week that Engels, which is the site of an airfield for some of Russia’s long-range, nuclear-capable bombers, was attacked. Emergency crews recently extinguished a large fire sparked by a strike Jan. 8.

Busargin said that, in the wake of the attacks, schools would be closed and classes in Engels and Saratov would be held remotely Tuesday.

Authorities in the Tula region of western Russia similarly confirmed a large drone attack. Dmitry V. Milyaev, the regional governor, said air defenses shot down 16 drones and that falling debris had damaged some cars and buildings. There were no casualties, officials said.

Local news media in Kazan, the capital of the republic of Tatarstan, in southwestern Russia, reported that a tanker at a liquefied natural gas base was struck, igniting a large fire.

The head of the republic, Rustam N. Minnikhanov, wrote on Telegram that firefighters had put out the blaze and that there were no casualties or “significant damage.”

In the border region of Bryansk, which has come under more regular attack, powerful explosions were reported. Russian independent news organization Astra said a chemical plant had been struck; the report could not be independently verified.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 31 drones, six ATACMS and six Storm Shadow missiles targeting Bryansk.

From the start, Ukraine’s strikes in Russia have aimed at limiting Moscow’s ability to attack Ukrainian cities. But in recent weeks they have taken on added weight as Ukraine has apparently attempted to project strength before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week, amid concerns he might temper U.S. support for Ukraine.

European leaders have assured Ukraine that they will not abandon it in the face of continued Russian aggression.

On Tuesday, Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, made an unannounced visit to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of solidarity.