A column of black smoke billows from industrial facilities south of Moscow on Monday morning following Ukrainian drone attacks overnight. Photo by StringerEPA
Ukrainian drones hit an oil storage facility and a logistics plants in the Moscow region overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday.
Zelensky said Ukrainian forces also struck two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea as well as four cargo vessels.
“We are responding, justly, to every Russian strike against our cities and communities. This war must be brought to an end, and that is only possible by increasing the pressure on the sole cause of this war — Russia,” said Zelensky, who said onlly that the targets in the Moscow region were more than 250 miles from Ukraine and did identify their exact location.
Images and footage circulating online claim to be of black smoke columns from an oil depot set ablaze in Podolsk, about 25 miles south of Moscow.
Drones hit a fulfilment facility of online marketplace Wildberries in nearby Kolyedino and warehouses in Belye Stolby, 12 miles to the southeast, were destroyed. A residential building was also set on fire nearby Domodedovo.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the attack involved more than 400 drones, 85 of which were shot down or disabled by air defenses as they bore down on the capital.
Russia launched its own attacks sending 94 long-range strike drones and one missile across the border into Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukraine Air Force. The missile and nine of the drones struck in nine locations causing damage, but 81 were shot downed or disabled by electronic warfare means.
Ukraine’s aerial assault on the Moscow region follows deadly strikes on two other Wildberries distribution centers on Saturday that killed one person and injured 37 in Elektrostal, east of Moscow, and killed seven and injured 25 in Tambov region, 300 miles southeast of the capital.
The Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center said that, as a “vital component” in Russia’s logistics supply chain, the firm was targeted over its sale of “dual-use goods, critical electronics and sanctioned goods” to the Russian military and Russian arms manufacturers.
Products available via Wildberries were said to include walkie-talkies, body armor and components for drones.
Historic July moments through the years
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969. Photo by NASA/UPI | License Photo
