Ukraine launches long-range strikes on military and energy sites in Russia.

KYIV, Ukraine, June 11 ------ A series of long-range Ukrainian attacks hit targets deep inside Russia on Wednesday, part of Kyiv's efforts to raise the costs of the war for the Kremlin by striking energy facilities and military industries. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces struck several military and energy infrastructure sites, including a military factory that he said supplied components for Russian drones and missiles.

In a post on social media, Zelensky said Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo long-range missiles had hit the facility in Cheboksary, located in the Chuvashiya region, more than 900 kilometers (over 560 miles) from the front line. Russia's Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 326 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Oleg Nikolayev, the head of Chuvashiya, confirmed the missile attack but didn't give details. The Astra online news outlet reported that the Ukrainian strike hit the VNIIR-Progress plant that produces antennas for drones. Zelensky also said Ukrainian forces struck a refinery in Russia's Samara region, where Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said that several industrial plants were damaged by drone strikes and three people were injured. Fedorishchev didn't name the facilities that were damaged, but Astra carried images of a large fire at the Samara refinery. Zelensky added that Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) had also targeted two oil infrastructure facilities in Russia's Vladimir region, about 700 kilometers from the front line.

In Russia-occupied Crimea, a Ukrainian drone hit the building housing a huge panorama painting depicting the defense of the city during 19th century Crimean War. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Kremlin-appointed head of Sevastopol, said the painting by artist Franz Rubo was effectively destroyed. As the more than 1,000-kilometer front line in the four-year war has remained largely static as swarms of drones hinder advances, both sides have increasingly relied on long-range strikes. The increasingly deep and audacious Ukrainian strikes have cast a challenge to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, defying his claim that Moscow was winning the war now in its fifth year.

Source: mb.com.ph