▲ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
A Ukrainian drone struck a key Russian gas facility located approximately 3,000 kilometers from the Ukraine-Russia border, foreign media outlets including Reuters and Bloomberg reported on the 9th, local time.
According to the reports, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces announced via Telegram that day that they attacked gas processing facilities in the Purovsky district and Novy Urengoy in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug within the Russian Arctic.
This marks the deepest strike yet inside Russian territory, with the drone reportedly flying more than 3,000 kilometers toward its target.
A fire broke out at the industrial facility, but no casualties were reported.
Novy Urengoy is also referred to as Russia's unofficial "gas capital."
As of 2020, Russian energy giant Gazprom estimated the gas resources in this region at 26.5 trillion cubic meters.
This volume is enough to meet global demand for more than six years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the impact this attack would have on the Russian economy, stating, "It is important to respond to Russia in a completely fair way and in a way that the enemy [Russia] can feel."
Ukraine has expanded attacks targeting Russian energy facilities to weaken Russia's ability to finance and sustain its war efforts.
Russia's TASS news agency also reported that a Ukrainian unmanned boat attacked a coastal embankment in Sochi, on Russia's Black Sea coast, injuring eight people.
Russia continued its drone attacks against Ukraine as well.
Ukrainian authorities announced that day that Russian drones attacked a Ukraine-Moldova border checkpoint in the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa, killing two people and injuring three others.
A Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv that day also left one person dead and 14 others injured.
Russian drone strikes reportedly caused fires across various parts of Kyiv, disrupting normal operations at businesses and schools.
Earlier, the departure of a plane carrying President Zelenskyy to Norway was delayed due to a drone alert just as it was preparing to take off from Moldova on the 8th.
A spokesperson for the Moldovan government stated this in a statement sent to Reuters, adding that takeoff was permitted after it was confirmed that a Russian drone had crashed into Moldovan territory.
After arriving in Norway, President Zelenskyy attended the funeral of King Harald V of Norway and met with high-ranking Norwegian cabinet ministers to discuss military support, including air defense systems for Ukraine.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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