KYIV -- A Ukrainian military intelligence official claimed to RFE/RL that one of its drones targeted a Russian Voronezh-M early warning radar system, in one of Kyiv's deepest attacks inside Russian territory since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than two years ago.
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According to the official on May 27, the drone covered a distance of 1,800 kilometers to hit a radar station in the city of Orsk near the Russian-Kazakh border.
There was no immediate confirmation from Russian officials concerning the attack claim.
Last week, a Ukrainian drone attack targeted a similar radar installation in Russia's southwestern region of Krasnodar. Satellite images showed that the Armavir radar station, which has two Voronezh-type radars, had suffered serious damage to the buildings housing the radar installations.
The Ukrainian attack on the Armavir station came shortly after Russia began exercises with its tactical nuclear weapons forces in the Southern Military District.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the exercises were held “in response to provocative statements and threats from certain Western officials.”
Separately on May 27, Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said several Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defenses overnight in areas close to a giant luxury complex on the Black Sea coast near the city of Gelendzhik.
The late Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny’s investigative group said in 2021 that the palace complex had been built for President Vladimir Putin, which he denied at the time.
After the report by Navalny’s team sparked debate across Russia, Putin’s close associate, businessman Arkady Rotenberg, publicly said he is the owner of the property in question.
Another Ukrainian drone attack on May 27 targeted a gasoline station in the western Russian region of Oryol, killing one person, the region's governor, Andrei Klychkov, wrote on Telegram.
Later on May 27, Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said air defenses had downed a drone in Balashikha, just east of Moscow. He said drone fragments had landed on a house but nobody was injured.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up strikes on Russian territory and off its shores, targeting, in particular, oil production and refining facilities, air defense installations, and naval vessels.