KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine used interceptor systems to shoot down more than 33,000 Russian drones of various types in March, a record monthly figure since Moscow launched its all-out invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine’s defense minister claimed.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range attack drones struck a Russian oil refinery and terminal on the Black Sea for the third time in less than two weeks, prompting the evacuation of local people and a Russian warning of possible “environmental consequences.”
Ukraine has developed cutting-edge and battle-tested drone technology that has proved essential in holding back Russia’s bigger army and has drawn military interest from around the world.
Interceptor drones as part of a comprehensive air defense system are now being sought by Middle East and Gulf countries amid the Iran war, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine is scaling up supplies of interceptor drones to thwart Russian aerial attacks, and its military has introduced a new command within the air force to boost the country’s capabilities, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a post on Telegram late Monday.
Ukraine’s offensive capabilities have also improved, with the Defense Ministry saying Tuesday that the country’s forces have more than doubled the range of their deep-strike capabilities since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
At that time, Ukrainian forces were able to hit military targets about 630 kilometers (400 miles) away, it said. They are now striking targets as far as roughly 1,750 kilometers (1,100 miles) behind enemy lines, the ministry said in a statement.
That improvement has allowed Ukraine to hit Russian oil installations that provide crucial revenue for Moscow’s war effort. It has also targeted manufacturing plants that supply Russia’s armed forces.
Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery at the Black Sea port of Tuapse for the third time this month in a coordinated operation involving multiple branches of the country’s defense and security services, its Unmanned Systems Forces said Tuesday.
The two strikes earlier this month destroyed 24 oil storage tanks and damaged four others, it said. Independent verification of the claims was not possible.
Video from Tuapse released Tuesday by Krasnodar regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev showed a massive plume of black smoke rising from the refinery and black, steaming puddles on an adjacent street. An emergency official reported to the governor that boiling oil products had spilled onto the street from one of the oil tanks, damaging several cars.
People who live near the Tuapse refinery were being evacuated, Kondratyev said. He didn’t provide details about how many were evacuated or for how long.
Speaking about the strikes on Tuapse, Russian President Vladimir Putin said they could “cause serious environmental consequences,” Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Putin also said Kondratyev had reported there were no serious threats in Tuapse and people were “dealing with the challenges they face on the ground.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday its air defenses overnight intercepted 186 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the annexed Crimea and the Black and the Azov seas.
In the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, three people were killed and three more were wounded in a drone attack, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, meanwhile, killed three civilians and wounded five others, Ukrainian authorities said.
Two people were killed in the city of Chuhuiv in the northeastern Kharkiv region, according to the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov.
A 40-year-old man died and five other men sustained injuries in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A rare daytime drone attack on Kyiv on Tuesday wounded two people, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Another Russian attack on Konotop, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, knocked out the city’s power and water supply.
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