The Ukrainian military has fired a dozen advanced Western-supplied missiles into Russia’s western Bryansk region, Moscow’s defense ministry said on Jan. 12, adding that all incoming missiles were successfully downed.
“Last night, the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] launched a missile strike at objects in Bryansk region,” it said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
According to the ministry, the salvo consisted of six U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles and six UK-made Storm Shadow missiles.
All incoming missiles were successfully downed before reaching their targets, the ministry said.
It noted that no casualties had been reported as a result of the missile attack, which it said had originated from Ukrainian territory.
The defense ministry said that two additional Storm Shadow missiles had been intercepted over the Black Sea.
“These actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by Western curators, will not go unanswered,” the ministry said in its statement.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify the Russian defense ministry’s claims, while officials in Kyiv have yet to acknowledge the reported long-range missile attack.
Twin Cities Targeted
On the same day, Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones had struck several regions of southern and western Russia in a wide-ranging attack carried out overnight.“Saratov and Engels came under a massive UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] attack,” Roman Busargin, governor of Russia’s Saratov region, said in remarks cited by Russian state news agency TASS on Jan. 14.
Located on the western bank of the Volga River, Saratov is the capital of Russia’s southwestern Saratov region, which shares a border with Kazakhstan.
The nearby industrial city of Engels sits on the opposite bank of the river.
The two cities are located roughly 450 miles southeast of Moscow and about 370 miles east of the frontlines in Ukraine, respectively.
According to Busargin, Russian air defenses intercepted a “large number” of the Ukrainian drones.
Nevertheless, two industrial sites in the twin cities had “sustained damage,” the regional governor said without elaborating on the scope of the destruction.
“Emergency services are working at the scene,” he said, adding that the attacks had not resulted in casualties.
In remarks cited by the Kyiv Independent, the Ukrainian military’s 14th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Regiment confirmed it had targeted a Russian airbase in Engels as part of a “multi-day comprehensive operation.”
According to the drone regiment, the attacks were aimed at degrading Russia’s “strategic aviation capabilities.”
Ukrainian drones had succeeded in striking fuel tanks used to supply Russian long-range bomber aircraft, the regiment said, according to the newspaper.
“We are doing our best to ensure that Engels fire crews, who have just put out the flames after the previous attack, are not left without work,” the drone regiment said.
Last week, Ukrainian drones struck an industrial facility in Engels, resulting in a massive fire that took several days to extinguish.
At the time, Busargin said that two Russian emergency workers had been killed—and a third injured—while attempting to put out the blaze.
Along with Saratov, several other regions of Russia were reportedly subject to Ukrainian drone attacks in the early hours of Jan. 14.
According to TASS, the affected regions included Rostov, Tatarstan, Tula, and Voronezh.
In Tula, several vehicles and buildings were damaged, while in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan region, a gas tanker was set ablaze, the news agency said.
No deaths or injuries have been reported as a result of attacks in either region.
In the immediate wake of the drone and missile attacks, Russian authorities imposed restrictions on civil aviation in the Saratov, Kazan, Penza, Ulyanovsk, and Nizhnekamsk regions.
