Ukraine claims drone strikes on Russian ammo plant, oil terminal and weapons depot

Kyiv: The Ukrainian military said on Monday that its long-range drones hit a major Russian ammunition plant, a key oil terminal and an important weapons depot behind the front line, cranking up recent pressure on Moscow’s military logistics.

The Ukrainian General Staff said it struck the Sverdlov ammunition plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region of western Russia overnight, causing multiple explosions and a fire. It said the plant supplies Russian forces with aviation and artillery ordnance, aviation bombs, and anti-aircraft and anti-tank munitions.

Ukrainian drones also hit an oil terminal in Crimea, starting a blaze, and an ammunition depot of Russia’s 18th Combined Arms Army, the General Staff said.

Russian authorities acknowledged a major Ukrainian drone attack over 14 Russian regions, as well as the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, around the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. But they gave few details beyond claiming that air defences shot down 251 Ukrainian drones — making it one of the biggest Ukrainian barrages of Russian territory since the war began more than three years ago.

Gleb Nikitin said that air defences fended off an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones on a local industrial zone.