Ukrainian emergency and rescue workers collect rubble at the site of a supermarket destroyed by Russian airstrikes in Kostyatynivka, eastern Donetsk region, August 9, 2024.
Roman Filippi | AFP | Getty Images
Ukrainian drones struck a key military airfield in Russia’s Lipetsk region, forcing authorities to declare a state of emergency in another Russian region this week amid a cross-border offensive in Kiev.
Ukrainian forces attacked the Lipetsk airfield, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the Ukrainian border, on Thursday night, hitting warehouses and other objects around the airport, the Ukrainian chief of staff said in a Telegram post translated by Google.
“Several sources of ignition were recorded, a strong fire broke out and several explosions were observed,” the Ukrainian military added, noting that Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft were stationed in Lipetsk.
In a Google Translate Telegram update, Lipetsk Governor Igor Artamonov said a “large-scale” drone strike had damaged energy infrastructure, disrupting power supply and causing a state of emergency in the autonomous region.
“There are now nine people on the list of victims. All of them are receiving the necessary assistance,” Artamonov said in a Telegram update later translated by Google, without detailing the conditions of the injured.
“The enemy is attacking civilians in Kursk and Belgorod. Today they carried out massive attacks on our territory with drones. We will not be afraid, we will not surrender, but we will not put the lives of our people at risk,” he added.
CNBC was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground.
This is the second time that a state of emergency has been declared in the Russian region, as Kiev continues the largest incursion into enemy territory since Moscow began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Earlier this week, the Ukrainian offensive forced thousands of people to evacuate and a state of emergency was declared in Kursk. Ukraine has not officially acknowledged the airstrikes.
Kursk continued to report a missile threat alert as of Friday, according to a Google Translate Telegram update from regional governor Alexei Smirnov, who said the situation in the region remained “difficult.”
Moscow continued its advance, and on Friday a Russian missile hit a supermarket in the village of Kostyantynivka in the Ukrainian frontline region of Donetsk. At least 10 people were killed and 35 wounded, Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said in a Google-translated Telegram update.
The Kiev border incursion is unlikely to have been an attempt to seize Russian territory, but rather a counterattack to similar offensives by Moscow on Ukrainian territory, especially in the Kharkiv region.
The attack on Lipetsk airfield comes after the Ukrainian military said it had attacked the Russian Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region on Saturday, claiming it had hit a local ammunition depot. In the same attack, the Ukrainian military said it also hit several oil depots and fuel and lubricant storage facilities in Rostov, Kursk and Belgorod.
“Russian fighter jets, wherever they are, must be destroyed by all effective means. It is also quite fair to strike Russian airfields,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Google Translate Telegram update on August 3, following the Morozovsk airstrike.
On Thursday, the Kyiv leader announced that his administration had acknowledged for the first time the cross-border offensive, saying in a speech every night that “Russia brought war to our land, and Russia must feel what it has done.”
Asked whether the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk was consistent with Washington’s position that Kiev could use U.S.-supplied weapons for defensive purposes, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said, “This is consistent with our policy, and we have supported Ukraine from the beginning to defend itself against cross-border aggression and the need for cross-fire.”
“So they are taking steps to protect themselves from attacks coming from areas where they can operate in accordance with U.S. policy, where, you know, our weapons, our systems, our capabilities are,” she said.
Correction: Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft are based in Lipetsk. The previous version incorrectly stated the types of aircraft based there.
