Ukraine has carried out a massive drone strike on a Russian dam, leading to widespread flooding in the country’s southern Belgorod region which left Vladimir Putin’s soldiers stranded.
Russian authorities have declared an emergency after the Belgorod reservoir dam was hit on Friday and Saturday, resulting in several of the country’s military units being cut off.
Footage shared on social media shows water gushing out of the damaged reservoir which reportedly caused major disruptions and left Russian troops stationed on the Ukrainian side of the border in Vovchansk stranded.
In other clips, debris can be seen scattered across the dam.
After the strike, water spilled into the Siverskyi Donets River, reportedly flooding Russian bunkers and trenches and complicating logistics for Moscow’s troops.
Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed the reservoir had been struck by Ukrainian drones and urged residents of the border settlements of Shebekino and Bezlyudovka to evacuate their homes due to a risk of flooding.
Meanwhile Ukrainian forces have touted the strike as a logistical nightmare for the Russian troops surrounding the city of Vovchansk.
Col Rober Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, confirmed on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had carried out the attack.
‘The Belgorod Reservoir cracked today. Since the moment of the magical kick, the level has dropped by 100cm (3ft),’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘The operation was named ‘Hang in there, dam!’, but as the worms’ [Russians’] intelligence shows, the dam is a little messed up,’ he added.
The Belgorod region borders Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, and has come under attack by Kyiv’s forces since the outbreak of full-scale conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine has in recent weeks mounted a major campaign of strikes on Russian energy infrastructure that has taken up to a fifth of Russia’s refining capacity offline.
Last week, Ukraine used British Storm Shadow missiles to strike an important chemical plant that produces gunpowder in southern Russia.
‘A massive combined missile and air strike was carried out, including the use of air-launched Storm Shadow missiles, which successfully penetrated the Russian air defense system,’ Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement on X last Tuesday.
‘This enterprise produces gunpowder, explosives, and components for rocket fuel, in particular for ammunition and missiles that the enemy uses to shell the territory of Ukraine,’ the military said.
The British government last year approved the use of Storm Shadow missiles by Ukrainian forces in operations on Russian territory, with the first known strikes happening in November.
Ukraine’s general staff described the plant asa ‘key facility’ producing gunpowder, explosives and rocket fuel and said damage caused by the operation was being assessed.
Images on social media claim to show flames billowing out of the facility.
The Ukrainian air force, army and other units carried the attack.
Ukraine has targeted the Russian capital with increasing frequency, last month unleashing 140 drones, killing a woman, grounding flights and setting off air defences across the country.
The latest attacks come days after Ukraine pounded one of Vladimir Putin’s key oil refineries with drones following Donald Trump’s announcement of crippling sanctions on Moscow’s oil giants.
The strike set the massive Ryazan refinery ablaze on Wednesday night, sending flames above one of the country’s largest industrial plants.
It also comes as Ukraine launched a drone attack on Moscow, forcing two of the city’s major airports to close yesterday.
Russian air defence systems battled to repel repeated attacks targeting Moscow that led to the closure of Domodedovo airport and Zhukovsky airport, authorities said on Monday.
Russia downed 28 drones within a five-hour span from 10pm on Sunday Moscow time, the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Telegram.
The airports, two of Moscow’s four international hubs, were closed to ensure air safety, aviation watchdog Rosaviatsiya said.
Information about potential damage has yet to emerge.
Russia rarely discloses the full scale of damages inflicted by Ukrainian strikes inside its territory unless civilian objects are involved.
