Kursk regional Gov. Alexey Smirnov said the situation in the region “remains difficult” after calling on Wednesday for thousands to be evacuated. Photo by Russian Emergencies Ministry/EPA-EFE
Aug. 9 (UPI) — Ukraine launched a “massive” drone attack on a military airbase in the Lipetsk region deep inside Russia overnight injuring at least nine people, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency a day after a Ukrainian ground offensive forced the neighboring Kursk region to declare an emergency there.
A red threat level was declared after the capital Lipetsk, 300 miles from the Ukraine border, came under attack amid blackouts after a power infrastructure facility was damaged with the airfield struck early Friday, igniting a major blaze, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
“Air defense systems operational! Stay at home. Don’t go near the windows. Take refuge in the bathroom. If you are on the street, go into the nearest building, parking lot, or underground passage. Stay in a safe place until the signal ‘Threat of UAV attack’ clears,” Governor Igor Artamonov wrote on his social media channel.
Four villages near the airbase were evacuated.
Artamonov declared a state emergency as specialist teams worked to clear unexploded ordnance amid a major clean-up operation with power supplied by reserve generators, although residents have since been told they can return to their homes.
Ukraine Armed Forces’ General Staff confirmed the attack on the Lipetsk-2 airfield just outside the regional capital hit a number of targets including warehouses storing hundreds of glide bombs causing huge blasts and fires at the base and that it was carried out by Ukraine Armed Forces, the Ukraine Security Service and special forces.
“Several sources of ignition were recorded, a major fire broke out and multiple detonations were observed,” the General Staff wrote in a social media post in which it also said that Russian Airforce Su-34 strike fighters, Su-35 air defense fighters and MiG-31 interceptors were based at the airfield.
“The drone strike caused a powerful explosion, setting off a chain of detonations and a large-scale fire that spread across much of the airfield,” the Kyiv Post quoted a source in the Ukraine Security Service as saying.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had intercepted and downed 19 fixed-wing drones in the skies over Lipetsk overnight together and a further 56 above other regions of the country.
The attack on Lipetsk came a day after the governor of neighboring Kursk to the west declared a region-wide state of emergency in the wake of a major cross-border incursion launched by Ukrainian forces Tuesday.
Kursk Gov. Alexey Smirnov made the call after earlier ordering the evacuation of thousands of residents from the region’s border with Ukraine as a ground offensive led by mechanized infantry pushed deeper into the region.
Smirnov on Thursday wrote on Telegram that the situation in Kursk “remains difficult.”
“In cooperation with the social services and non-governmental organizations a system of assistance to internally displaced persons has been organized,” he wrote.
