Russia and Ukraine targeted urban centers and energy facilities with drone strikes and airstrikes on Sunday, as both sides looked for ways to inflict damage beyond the battlefield.
The Russian military said it shot down nearly 60 Ukrainian drones over the Krasnodar region in southwestern Russia. facility.
Local Russian officials said an oil refinery was hit during the attack. A Ukrainian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military issues, said Ukrainian drones struck oil refineries and military airports in the region. Russian officials did not comment on reports of an attack on the airport.
Ukrainian officials said that Russia attacked northeastern Ukraine, including the city of Kharkiv, killing at least 10 civilians and injuring more than 20 people. Russia has not yet commented on the attack, which could not be independently confirmed. Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, has been hit by Russian missiles in recent months in what military experts say is a Russian tactic aimed at creating panic and forcing residents to flee.
In this war, attacks on logistics hubs and troop concentrations deep behind enemy lines were frequent. But it has become more important for Ukraine as it seeks to ease pressure on troops struggling to contain Russia’s advances on the ground by disrupting Moscow’s military operations.
Since the beginning of autumn, Russia has had the upper hand on the battlefield, able to launch attacks on different parts of the more than 600-mile front line to test and penetrate Ukraine’s defenses. Most recently, it opened a new front in northeastern Ukraine near Kharkov, quickly seizing several settlements and forcing Ukrainian forces to redeploy troops from other battlefield hotspots.
Now, Russia is looking to take full advantage of the situation by breaching Ukraine’s defenses.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported more than 80 Russian attacks on Saturday. Many of these incidents occurred in the southeastern Donetsk region, which Russia annexed in 2022 but does not fully control. In particular, the Ukrainian military said it repelled a massive Russian tank attack on Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian stronghold and one of Russia’s main targets in the Donetsk region.
After months of bloody attacks, Russia gradually regained territory in Ukraine. Russia has gained more territory so far this year than it lost during Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive last year, said Patsy Paronen, an analyst with Finland’s Blackbird Group who analyzes satellite imagery and battlefield combat footage.
Part of Ukraine’s strategy to undermine this slow but steady progress is to conduct sustained air strikes against Russian facilities that supply fuel and other refined petroleum products to tanks, ships and fighter jets.
Six Ukrainian drones attacked an oil refinery in Slavyansk, Russia’s Krasnodar region, on Sunday, forcing the plant to halt operations, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
The campaign also appears aimed at damaging Russia’s energy industry, which is central to Russia’s economy and war effort. The United States said in a report released last week that the strike had “disrupted approximately 14% of Russia’s refining capacity” and had driven up domestic gasoline and diesel prices by 20% to 30% as of mid-March. The report only covers the two months from late January to late March.
Russia also said on Sunday it intercepted nine Ukrainian missiles aimed at Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Transport troops and ammunition to the southern battlefield. It has also been used as a launch pad for drone and missile attacks.
