Kyiv: Ukrainian forces launched nighttime strikes deep inside Russia that set a major gas-processing complex ablaze and damaged two satellite communications hubs, Ukraine’s General Staff said Wednesday, part of a stepped-up aerial campaign hitting energy and military targets, AP reported.
The operation comes as Kyiv continues to deploy longer-range weapons and intensify attacks on infrastructure it says supports Russia’s war effort. In response to recent strikes, Moscow ordered some air-defence systems moved from regional positions to the capital and to the Kerch Bridge in Crimea, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“It is important that as many Russians as possible come to understand that it is the Russian leadership’s rejection of diplomacy that is prolonging the war,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined the offer.
Northern Evacuation Order
Meanwhile, officials in northern Ukraine prepared for potential threats from across the border. Starting July 1, communities in Chernihiv region along Belarus will face mandatory evacuations, Viacheslav Chaus, head of the regional military administration, announced on his Telegram channel.
Last month, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of accelerating efforts to “draw Belarus much deeper into the war” and hinted at possible operations launched from Belarusian soil. He said he had ordered Ukraine’s military and security services to boost the northern defences. Belarus and Russia have denied the allegation.
Major Gas Facility Hit
The General Staff said the overnight strike hit the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, part of a larger complex that includes Russia’s sole helium plant, and that fires broke out at the site. Located in the southern Urals near Kazakhstan, Orenburg sits roughly 1,200 kilometres behind the front lines.
Describing the facility as one of the world’s largest gas complexes, the General Staff noted it produces helium — used in liquid-fuel rocket engines and guidance systems — and ethane, a feedstock for solid rocket propellants and gunpowder.
Satellite Centres Targeted
Ukraine also struck two satellite communications centres the military said are used by Russian forces. One was the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow, which Ukrainian officials called Russia’s biggest ground-based satellite communications complex; the other was in Vladimir region east of the capital.
The General Staff did not specify the weapons used in the strikes, and independent verification was not immediately possible. Russian officials had no immediate comment.
Campaign On Crimea Continues
Kyiv has concentrated recent operations on Crimea, seeking to sever supply lines to the Russian-occupied peninsula and affect its power network during the tourist season. Overnight drone strikes knocked out electricity in Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, Moscow’s installed governor there, reported.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine destroyed more than 60,000 tonnes of Russian ammunition in a strike on a Baltic Fleet depot near St. Petersburg. Ukraine’s Security Service reported attacks on two military airfields in Crimea and the destruction of missile systems.
Casualties Reported On Both Sides
Humanitarian and military costs continued to mount. Norwegian People’s Aid said two of its staff were killed in a Russian strike in Ukraine, though local officials reported one death. Four other aid workers were wounded.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it shot down 323 Ukrainian drones overnight. Russian regions reported several deaths from Ukrainian strikes, including in Nizhny Novgorod and Belgorod, while Ukraine reported civilian deaths from Russian drone and guided-bomb attacks in Balakliia and Sumy and rising fatalities from a cluster-munitions strike on Kryvyi Rih.
Both sides have used controversial munitions during the conflict.
