On the night of December 14, Ukrainian drones targeted a significant oil facility in Russia's Oryol region, while Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile assault on Ukraine. The Ukrainian military reported that the facility, crucial for supplying fuel to Russian forces, was struck by drones.
The attack on the oil infrastructure, located approximately 170 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, resulted in a fire but no casualties, according to Andrei Klichko, the governor of Oryol. He also stated that eleven drones involved in the attack were intercepted and destroyed.
The Oryol region is near Russia's Kursk area, where Ukrainian forces captured a substantial territory in August. Ukraine has increased its use of drones this year to target Russian oil facilities, viewing them as military objectives that support Russian troops amid the ongoing conflict.
In response, Russian forces conducted extensive aerial attacks on Ukraine, launching dozens of drones and 94 missiles. Ukrainian officials reported that 81 of the missiles were intercepted in the air. President Volodymyr Zelensky described these strikes as among the most significant assaults on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Zelensky noted that eleven cruise missiles were intercepted with the aid of Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets. He indicated that these attacks aim to create difficult conditions for Ukrainian citizens ahead of winter.
Russia claims that these large-scale assaults on Ukraine are retaliatory measures against the use of weapons supplied by Western nations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that the attacks were a response to a Ukrainian strike on a Russian military base earlier in the week.
In light of these developments, President Zelensky reiterated his appeal to Western allies for air defense systems to help counter Russian assaults.