Russia’s Biggest Military Range Suffers Damage in Ukraine Drone Raid

What’s New?

Russia’s largest military training ground was damaged during the latest round of drone strikes by Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

According to the Telegram channel ASTRA, four drones struck the Kadamovksky facility, which sustained heavy damage amid an attack on the wider Rostov region on Sunday.

“As a result of the attack, a fire and detonation started at the ammunition depot at the training ground. There are no known casualties,” the independent Russian outlet reported on Monday. Emergency services in Rostov told ASTRA that another missile was shot down over a military airfield in Millervo, around 100 miles north of Kadamovsky.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for further information on the Rostov attack.

Why It Matters

The Kadamovsky military facility, Russia’s largest training ground, is home to the 150th Motorized Rifle Division, a ground force extensively involved in combat since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Situated less than 30 miles from the Ukrainian border, the range has been the site of multiple snap exercises for Russia’s forces, including weapons testing and military drills in the weeks leading up to the invasion.

What To Know?

Ukraine’s Sunday strikes, which reportedly also came close to damaging the Novocherkassk State District Power Plant followed a larger combined attack on the Rostov region last week.

Using at least 13 missiles and 84 drones, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry, Ukraine struck multiple refineries and reportedly caused a fire to erupt at the Kamensky chemical plant.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces also claimed to have damaged the Novoshakhtinsky Petroleum Products Refinery in Rostov, which it said “is used to meet the needs of the Russian Armed Forces.”

On Friday, The Moscow Times reported that the plant, the largest of its kind in southern Russia, had shut down its primary refining units as a result of the attack.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the attack was carried out using “six U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles and four Storm Shadow air-based cruise missiles,” adding that its subsequent strikes on the Luch Design Bureau, a Ukrainian defense firm based in Kyiv, were a response to these actions.

What People Are Saying

Acting Governor of the Rostov Oblast, Yury Slyusar, on Sunday via Telegram: “This night, air defense forces and assets repelled a combined enemy air attack in the Rostov Region. A total of 8 UAVs were shot down and suppressed by electronic warfare in the Azov Region, near Taganrog and Novocherkassk, as well as a missile near Millerovo. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties from falling debris. Information about the consequences on the ground is being clarified.”

What Happens Next?

Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange aerial barrages, with Vladimir Putin vowing to turn Kyiv into the setting of a “high-tech duel” between Moscow’s armaments and Western-supplied air defenses.

Drone strikes targeted the city of Kazan, over 600 miles into Russian territory, over the weekend, hitting residential buildings and prompting the temporary suspension of flights at surrounding airports.

In response, Putin vowed that Ukraine “will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country,” during a televised government meeting on Sunday.

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