Residents in northwestern and central Russia experienced a nightmarish night as the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a large-scale air attack using 571 unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, and missiles.
In an unprecedented escalation of attacks deep within Russian territory, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a devastating missile strike against an industrial facility in the city of Kirov.
The fact that this specific region is located nearly 1,300 kilometers away from the Ukrainian border highlights the rapid expansion of the operational radius of Ukrainian weapons.
Furthermore, key civilian infrastructure in St. Petersburg and the broader Leningrad region came under the scope of Ukrainian forces, while an air raid alarm sounded simultaneously in Penza and Crimea.
Storm of attacks from Leningrad to Kirov
The news of the deadly attack was confirmed through his personal Telegram account by the governor of the Kirov region, Alexander Sokolov.
The official revealed that there are injured persons from the explosive impact of the missile, to whom the necessary medical care is already being provided.
Despite the fact that Sokolov avoided specifying which particular factory was targeted, he assured that operational services are on-site and the situation is under control, while issuing a strict appeal to citizens not to publish photos or videos of the damage.
Rain of drones in Leningrad and injuries in warehouses
The air defense of the Russian Federation fought a hard battle throughout the night of July 24.
The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, gradually announced the neutralization of a total of 59 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles.
The air threat alarm was activated around 01:40 Moscow time and lasted until the early morning hours, with shootdowns rapidly increasing from 11 to over 50 within a few hours.
Despite the action of the air defense, serious damage and injuries were recorded.
At one of the struck warehouse complexes, three individuals were injured and transported to the hospital in a medical condition of moderate severity.
Additionally, an unmanned aerial vehicle crashed into the premises of the Severnaya poultry farm in the village of Sinyavino in the Kirov district, causing the partial collapse of building structures, fortunately without victims at that specific location.
Strike on the industrial zone of St. Petersburg
At the same time, the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, revealed that the northern capital suffered a direct attack from military unmanned aerial vehicles, with strikes recorded on civilian infrastructure along Moscow Boulevard.
Beglov himself took charge of the operational headquarters to coordinate municipal services and address the consequences.
Chaos at ten airports and paralysis of commercial transport
The air raid caused a domino effect of problems in transportation and the logistics chain.
At Pulkovo International Airport, traffic was temporarily suspended for more than four hours.
As a result, over 50 flights suffered delays of more than two hours, while 15 aircraft were forced to divert to alternative airports.
Similar emergency measures and flight bans were imposed at a total of ten airports in Russia, including Pskov, Kazan, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Saratov, Penza, Bugulma, Nizhnekamsk, and Cheboksary.
Concurrently, severe disruptions were caused to e-commerce.
The joint venture Wildberries & Russ, RWB, announced the immediate suspension of operations at two of its key logistics centers in the Shushary and Utkina Zavor districts of St. Petersburg.
The company had proceeded two days earlier with similar evacuations and suspensions at warehouses spanning 100,000 square meters in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk in the Stavropol region, waiving storage fees for sellers due to ongoing attacks.
Missile threat hundreds of kilometers from the border
In addition to the unmanned aerial vehicle attack in the north, Ukraine attempted to deal a missile strike in the Penza region, which lies hundreds of kilometers away from the frontline.
The governor of the region, Oleg Melnichenko, stated that the air defense forces of the Russian Ministry of Defense destroyed all enemy aerial targets before they reached the territory of the region, preventing the worst.
At the same time, an air attack with unmanned aerial vehicles occurred in Crimea, where in Simferopol authorities proceeded with the emergency evacuation of the local Wildberries sorting center for safety reasons.
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