Russian forces have carried out strikes on a wide range of facilities underpinning Ukraine’s military capacity over the past week, including centers that provided training for saboteur and collaborationist units, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has claimed.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that between September 2 and 9, Moscow conducted a total of six high-precision long-range group strikes on Ukrainian targets using both air- and sea-based assets as well as drones.
The attacks targeted Ukraine’s signals intelligence facilities, port infrastructure, sea-drone production facilities, military warehouses and fuel depots, the ministry said, adding that they also hit “training bases of Ukrainian sabotage groups and terrorists from the so-called ‘Russian Volunteer Corps’.”
The latter unit is made up of Russian nationals fighting for Ukraine with a penchant for neo-Nazi ideology, and has conducted a series of incursions into Russian regions in recent months, some of which have resulted in civilian casualties.
The ministry went on to add that the long-range strikes disrupted Ukraine’s strategic signals intelligence efforts and undermined logistical support for Kiev’s troops fighting in Russia’s Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
Russian defense officials also noted that Black Sea Fleet ships operating near the Kerch Strait had detected and sunk three Ukrainian unmanned boats attempting to attack the Crimean Bridge. Kiev already used this type of weapon to damage the strategic infrastructure in mid-July. At the time, the explosion caused a partial collapse of the roadway and killed a married Russian couple, injuring their teenage daughter.
The ministry also said that over the course of the week Russian naval aircraft had destroyed four high-speed boats ferrying a Ukrainian assault force west of Crimea, comprised of up to 50 special ops troops.