Ukraine claims largest aerial attack inside Russian territory

The governor of Russia's Saratov region, Roman Busargin, says the scale of the attack there was "massive". (Photo/AP)

Ukraine has carried out its largest aerial attack on Russian territory of the nearly three-year war overnight, Kiev said, hitting factories and energy hubs hundreds of kilometres from the frontline.

The Russian military accused Kiev of using US and British-supplied missiles for one of the strikes and promised it would "not go unanswered".

The barrage on Tuesday forced schools in the southwestern Saratov region to close, while at least nine airports in central and western Russia temporarily halted traffic, according to Russian officials.

"The Ukrainian Defence Forces carried out the most massive strike against the military facilities, at a distance of 200 to 1,100 kilometres deep into the territory of the Russian Federation," Ukraine's General Staff said in a post on social media.

Facilities "in the Bryansk, Saratov, Tula regions and the Republic of Tatarstan were hit," it added.

Among the targets were a chemical factory that makes rocket fuel and ammunition for Russia's army, an oil depot near a Russian air base and an oil refinery.

The governor of Russia's Saratov region, Roman Busargin, said the scale of the attack there was "massive".

Schools in the cities of Saratov and Engels were holding classes online on Tuesday because of the attacks, he added.

Firefighters had only the day before managed to put out a blaze at an oil depot in the city of Engels, which was hit by a Ukrainian drone strike on January 8.

Kiev's army said it had hit the same site again.

Chemical plant

In the energy-rich region of Tatarstan, a Ukrainian drone struck a gas storage tank, sending flames and thick smoke billowing toward the sky near the city of Kazan, according to media and the regional government.

Tatarstan local media said a liquefied gas storage base was hit, and published images showing flames and black smoke.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it shot down six US-supplied ATACMS missiles and six British Storm Shadow cruise missiles that Ukraine had fired in the attack on the Bryansk region.

Ukraine's army had earlier claimed it had hit a chemical plant near the town of Seltso, more than 100 kilometres from the border, that makes ammunition and explosives for Russia's army.

"Drones successfully distracted Russian air defences, paving the way for missiles that hit the main targets," the Ukrainian military's Unmanned Systems Forces said.

The Ukrainian Air Force said separately that its air defence systems had downed 58 drones launched by Russia, while another 21 were destroyed with electronic interference systems or crashed.

A Ukrainian official in the Kharkiv region meanwhile said this morning that a 52-year-old resident of the town of Kozachya Lopan had been killed by Russian artillery fire.

The overnight Ukrainian attacks come at a difficult moment for Kiev's forces along the frontline, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region.

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Source: TRT