The Ukrainian military claimed on Wednesday to have downed a Russian fighter jet over eastern Ukraine as Russia stepped up retaliation in Ukraine’s occupied eastern region shortly after Kyiv set another Russian oil depot on fire in a strike deep into Russian territory.
Early on Wednesday, a Ukrainian drone attack set a Russian oil depot on fire over 100 miles from the Ukrainian border in the Rostov region. No casualties have been reported, and at the time of writing, firefighters were still trying to extinguish the blaze, according to Ukrainian media reports.
Ukraine also attacked the Zenit oil depot, which houses an oil products reservoir, over 700 miles away in the Kirov region. Kyiv ties both depots to Moscow’s military-industrial complex.
Shortly afterwards, Ukraine claimed to have shot down an Su-25 “Frogfoot” fighter jet over Ukraine’s eastern occupied Donetsk region.
The latest escalation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to advance his bold incursion into Russian territory that has been ongoing for nearly three weeks now, seeking to go on the offensive after being on the defensive since the March 2022 invasion.
In Ukraine’s Donbass region, Russia is intensifying its offensive, with the Kyiv Post describing Ukrainian forces on this front “outgunned” and outnumbered. Citing Zelensky, the Kyiv Post said that reinforcements were in the process of being deployed, and two towns had already fallen to Russian forces.
Earlier this week, Russia launched some 200 missiles at Ukraine, targeting energy installations, while Polish media report that Warsaw has deployed aircraft to defend Polish airspace against the onslaught, and a U.S. airbase in Germany remains on full alert in a state of preparedness. Parts of Kyiv were rendered without power and water earlier this week as a result of the Russian barrage.
