Ukraine Launches One of Its Largest Drone Attacks as Zelensky Pressures Belarus

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in an overnight attack spanning twelve Russian regions, the Crimean peninsula, and the Black and Azov seas, calling it one of the largest such assaults of the war. Ukrainian and regional reports said the strikes hit industrial targets, including a chemical plant in Novomoskovsk, about 200 kilometers south of Moscow, where a regional governor confirmed damage to a facility.

The two sides offered competing accounts of the damage, with Moscow emphasizing interceptions and Kyiv emphasizing direct hits, a pattern that has held throughout the campaign and that independent verification rarely resolves in real time. Russian state media, for its part, said Russian forces had carried out five strikes on Ukrainian defense-industry targets over the past week.

Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky escalated threats against Belarus, with Ukrainian officials saying Belarusian radio relay stations were being used to guide Russian attack drones more precisely. The accusation broadens the diplomatic reach of the conflict at a moment when Russian President Vladimir Putin used Belarus's independence day to praise the two countries' integration.