Putin suffers a night of hell after Ukraine targets key military site

Ukraine has cranked up the pressure on Putin by launching more missiles deep into Russia, targeting key oil and military assets.

Vladimir Putin’s country has been considered generally safe from outside attacks, and the focus of the war has been on Ukraine’s defence at its borders.  

But Ukraine has been tipping the balance of power with recent attacks launched directly into Russia, including at a military plant in Cheboksary.  

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said several FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles landed on the plant. The site, based in Chuvashia, makes drones and missiles for the Russian military.

The attack, more than 500 miles beyond the Russia-Ukraine border, left three people injured, according to officials.  

Another overnight attack in the Samara region caused a fire at the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, with eyewitnesses reporting hearing the sound of a drone along with explosions.

Ukraine had its eyes set on two more oil facilities, Lobkovo and Vtorovo, which supply Moscow and northwestern parts of Russia.  

The strikes in the Vladimir region, over 430 miles from the Ukrainian border, could cause shortages at petrol pumps, another blow to Russia’s economy – and a threat to Putin’s popularity at home.

Elsewhere, Ukraine managed to damage a key bridge between the Arabat Spit and the divided Kherson region on the frontline of the war. The attack blocked traffic on the vital supply bridge to Crimea, an area Russia has occupied since 2014.  

Nighttime trains were stopped in Crimea in response to the attacks and a curfew was put in place, an undesirable move for the Kremlin as it could put off Russian tourists from visiting the region.  

Drones are said to have damaged a locomotive on the route between Moscow and Simferopol, Crimea, on the Crimean railway earlier in the week.  

Zelensky wrote on X today that since the beginning of the week, 11 of its regions have come under fire, with Russia using almost 530 drones and two air-launched guided missiles.

He said that protection for Ukraine is ‘a prerequisite for diplomacy to work’ regarding any future peace plans.

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