On 5 December the eighth wave of missile strikes in eight weeks hit Ukraine. It was aimed primarily at the power supply structure in the east of the country. The Ukraine authorities reported that the damage was not quite as bad as could have been, and claimed it had shot down 60 missiles out of the 70 that appeared over the country. The Kremlin counter-claimed that the strike had hit all 17 of its intended targets.
On 6 December Ukraine launched its most ambitious attack to date on targets deep inside Russia when it used drones to attack two military bases hundreds of miles beyond the common border.
The Kremlin said that the weapons launched by Ukraine were Soviet-era jet drones and were aimed at bases in Ryazan and Engels, between 300 and 450 miles from the border, beyond the range of any known missile in Ukraine’s arsenal. It stated that that the drones had been intercepted, and that ‘the fall and explosion of the wreckage’ had slightly damaged two planes, killing three servicemen at the Dyagilevo military base in Ryazan, about 100 miles from Moscow.
Following the strikes on the Ryazan and Engels bases, Russia launched a volley of missiles at Ukraine’s energy grid. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that four people were killed by these strikes.
