Ukraine continued its large-scale cross-border incursion into Russia, launching a major airstrike against a Russian airport hundreds of kilometers behind the front line, AFP reported.
The Ukrainian offensive in the western part of Russia's Kurks region, which began on August 6, appears to be the most significant assault on Russian soil since the start of the war.
Russia says around 1,000 Ukrainian troops and more than two dozen armored vehicles and tanks were involved in the initial attack. Since then, however, Moscow has announced that it has destroyed much more equipment.
Kiev has not officially claimed responsibility for the operation, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia should have "felt" the consequences of its invasion.
Ukraine said it carried out a massive airstrike on a Russian military base in the Lipetsk region, about 280 km from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The regional governor, Igor Artamonov, announced that a "massive" drone attack had taken place during the night. Russian state news agencies reported that the airport had been set on fire.
"Last night, the Ukrainian Defense Forces attacked the Lipetsk airport," the General Staff of Ukraine said in a message on Telegram.
It said that "storage facilities containing guided aerial bombs and a number of other facilities" were hit and that a "massive fire" broke out with "multiple detonations".
Artamonov canceled several public events in the region and issued evacuation orders for areas near the air base. | BGNES
