Ukrainian drones strike Russia’s Smolensk region causing fuel depot fire
Ukrainian drones reportedly attacked the Yartsevsky District in the Smolensk region, according to a statement by regional governor Vasily Anokhin on his Telegram channel. Anokhin detailed that the UAVs were suppressed by air defense systems, but debris from one fell onto an oil depot. "This resulted in a fuel spill and the ignition of lubricants," Anokhin noted.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on the night of December 31, Russian air defenses destroyed 68 drones. This included 25 UAVs over the Bryansk region, 11 in the Krasnodar Territory, 10 over the Smolensk region, two over Tver, and one each in the Rostov, Kursk, and Kaluga regions. An additional 17 drones were downed over annexed Crimea. On the morning of December 31, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine, prompting an air raid alert across the country, with explosions audible in Kyiv.