Mass Ukrainian Drone Onslaught Strikes Targets Across Western Russia

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Ukraine carried out one of its largest drone attacks against Russia in this war, striking energy production facilities, weapons storage sites, and other military targets in about a dozen regions across the country, according to Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian and Russian media, and high-profile ‘milblogger’ Telegram channels. The attacks reportedly involved more than 200 drones, including Ukraine’s new Peklo missile drone. Russian sources claim that Ukraine also used U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and UK-made Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles in a combined, widespread attack.

Videos emerging on social media showed flames erupting in the aftermath of the strikes.

An absolutely devastating night for Russia as 7 regions are attacked by a variety of Ukraine's missiles, drones and American made ATACAMS.

Oil and gas facilities, arms production and storage, factories, military targets. pic.twitter.com/QybNCa4moU

— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) January 14, 2025

Ukrainian forces delivered a "fiery" night to several key Russian targets, as confirmed by Kyiv Post sources:

The following were hit:

▪️Aleksin Chemical Plant (Tula region): A major fire was reported after Ukrainian drones struck the facility.

▪️Ammunition depots (FAB, KAB,… https://t.co/MSWuTaHfYi pic.twitter.com/NRn6taxM6w

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) January 14, 2025

“On the night of January 14, the Defense Forces of Ukraine carried out the most massive strike on military objects of the occupiers at a distance of 200 (about 124 miles) to 1100 km (about 684 miles) in the depth of the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff claimed in a Facebook post. “Targets in Bryansk, Saratovsk, Tulsk regions and the Republic of Tatarstan were hit. The oil storage base “Kombinat Crystal” in Engels Saratov region was successfully attacked again, where a fire, which lasted 5 days after the previous attack, has just been extinguished.”

On January 14, Ukraine's Defense Forces carried out the largest attack on russian military facilities, targeting locations 200 to 1,100 km deep inside russia.@GeneralStaffUA reports on the aftermath of this operation. The targets were hit in the Bryansk, Saratov, and Tula… pic.twitter.com/N4Wdzmpn8R

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) January 14, 2025

“During the night attack by the Ukrainians, more than 200 UAVs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were used, including the PD-2, Bober, Lyuty, UJ-22, and five ATACMS,” the Russian Alex Parker Returns Telegram channel claimed. “Attacked: Bryansk, Tula, Saratov, Samara, Oryol, Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh regions, as well as Kazan and Krasnodar Krai. Attacks were recorded on an oil depot and two industrial enterprises in Saratov and Engels.”

The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) acknowledged only an attack on Bryansk “by six U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, six UK-made Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles, and 31 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles from the territory of Ukraine.”

The Russian MoD claimed that all the weapons were shot down and there were no casualties or damage, as is fairly customary.

The longest-range claimed attack on Tuesday took place in the city of Kazan, located in Russia’s Tatarstan region, almost 700 miles east of the border, according to Russian media and Telegram channels.

Ukrainian drones struck a Russian fuel and chemical facility in Kazan, nearly 700 miles from the border. (Google Earth)

“In Kazan, a base of liquefied gases is on fire after a drone attack,” the independent Russian Astra media outlet wrote on Telegram.

“A gas tanker at the SG depot near the Orgsintez plant in Kazan also caught fire,” the Russian Alex Parker Returns Telegram channel reported.

“Drones attacked the Orgsintez chemical plant in Tatarstan,” the Russian Operation Z Telegram channel wrote. “A tanker with liquefied gas caught fire not far from it.”

Ukrainian Lt. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Central Directorate of the National Security and Defense Council, said the Orsintez facility produces far more than fuel.

The plant, “which was damaged, is a strategic facility that is of direct importance for the Russian military-industrial complex,” Kovalenko claimed on Telegram. “The enterprise specializes in the production of materials used in the creation of military equipment, weapons and components. Polyamides, synthetic rubber and other chemical compounds of the plant are used in the production of armored vehicles, tires for tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as plastics for weapons and equipment. It also produces components for explosives used in the production of ammunition.”

Videos from the scene show flames shooting into the air from behind a line of either fuel or chemical tanks at the facility.

Another video showed a different view of that attack.

For the second time in less than a week, Ukrainian officials said its drones struck a fuel depot for the Engels Air Base. There is also a claim that a weapons storage facility on the base itself was hit. The facilities are located about 300 miles east of Ukraine.

“Tonight, operators of the 14th Separate UAV Regiment of the Ukrainian Air Force, in cooperation with other components of the Defense Forces, once again struck the infrastructure of the Engels-2 military airfield, where Tu-95MS Bear-H and Tu-160M Blackjack bombers of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Air Division are based,” the unit claimed on Telegram. “As a result of the attack on the territory of the Crystal oil depot, tanks with rare aviation fuel for Tu-160 bombers, which Russia uses to terrorize the civilian population of Ukraine, were once again set on fire.”

The “multi-day complex operation to reduce the enemy’s strategic aviation capabilities has been completed,” the regiment stated. “We are doing everything possible to ensure that the Engels fire brigades, who have just extinguished the flames after the previous strike, are not left without work in the increasingly difficult economic situation in Russia.”

The attack also targeted ammunition depots storing glide bombs and cruise missiles at Engels, according to the Kyiv Post, citing a source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU).

The regional governor, as well as several Russian Telegram channels, acknowledged the attacks.

“Today Saratov and Engels were subjected to a massive UAV attack,” Roman Busargin wrote on Telegram. “Air defense systems eliminated a large number of targets. As a result of the attack, there is damage at two industrial enterprises in Saratov and Engels. Emergency services are working at all points.”

The attacks were carried out by Ukraine’s new Peklo missile drone and propeller-driven Beaver long-range drones, according to the Ukrainian Liga news outlet.

As we previously reported, the fuel depot was struck by Ukrainian drones on Jan. 8, the resulting flames lasting for about five days. The aircraft at the base, about five miles away, have been targeted repeatedly in the past, causing the Russians to beef up their air defenses, use silhouette decoys, and even place tires on the planes there to protect them from attack by confusing image-matching missile seekers.

Several videos emerged on social media showing different views of the attack on the Engels fuel depot.

With less than a week to go in the Biden administration, which has provided nearly $70 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, the future of U.S. support for Kyiv under the incoming Trump administration remains in question. Regardless of any help from allies, however, Ukraine continues to grow its ability to conduct deep strikes into Russia using its own weapons.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com