Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed intercepting 44 Ukrainian drones in an overnight attack spanning multiple regions on 20 November, with the highest concentration of incidents recorded in Novgorod Oblast.
Drones struck a major Russian military arsenal near Kotovo in Novgorod Oblast, approximately 680 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, according to Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
The attacks comes just a few days after US authorized Ukraine to use its long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russian territory. On 19 November Ukraine struck a strategic Russian ammunition depot in Bryansk Oblast, marking the first time in history that Ukraine’s Armed Forces used US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles to strike a military target inside Russia, following Biden’s approval.
The arsenal struck overnight into 20 Novemebr reportedly stores artillery shells, mortar mines, rockets for Grad, Smerch and Uragan MLRS, Iskander missiles, KN23 missiles, S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, and ammunition for the Tor system. The Russian local governor, however, only confirmed drone activity without specifying the arsenal as a target.
Kovalenko said that the EFKO plant in Belgorod Oblast was also targeted. The facility reportedly produces food products (mayonnaise and yogurt) but also manufactures cargo drones used by the Russian army for military purposes. Last year Russia invested 40 billion rubles ($398 mn) in the production of UAVs.
The Russian Defense Ministry claims the drones were neutralized across nine Russian regions. Some 20 drones over Novgorod Oblast, five over Kursk Oblast, four over Oryol Oblast, and three each over Belgorod, Tula, and Tver oblasts. Two drones were destroyed over each of Bryansk, Moscow, and Smolensk oblasts.
This comes after the Ukrainian General Staff reported striking an arsenal of the 1046 Logistics Center near Karachev in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, where “12 secondary explosions and detonations were recorded.”
Ukraine has intensified its long-range drone attacks against the military and fuel facilities within Russia, significantly disrupting fuel and ammunition supplies crucial for the Russian military. Many of such attacks targeted Russian bomb warehouses at airbases, ammunition depots, fuel processing and storage facilities deep inside Russia.
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