On the night of September 28, 2026, the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out a large-scale retaliation operation, deploying long-range capabilities against key military and industrial targets inside the Russian Federation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the details of the nighttime attack in his official address, emphasizing the systematic nature of these countermeasures against ongoing Russian strikes on peaceful Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.
Chronology of Night Strikes and Target Geography
According to the head of state, Ukrainian forces delivered accurate strikes on two major defense plants located in Russia's Tula and Voronezh regions. These enterprises are involved in supplying the Russian army with weapons and ammunition. Furthermore, units of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) conducted a successful operation against the aggressor's oil facilities in the Krasnodar Krai, where local residents in the stanitsa of Novotitarovskaya reported drone flights and a series of powerful explosions near railway infrastructure.
Special Operations and Elimination of Terror Assets
In addition to industrial and fuel depots, strikes were recorded in the Kaluga and Oryol regions against facilities used by Russian troops to coordinate and launch kamikaze drones. In the Bryansk region, fire damage was inflicted directly on concentrations of the occupying contingent. The destruction of an unspecified strategic target in the Black Sea was also confirmed, demonstrating Ukraine's capability to act effectively at sea.
Contradictory Data
While the Ukrainian side officially reported comprehensive strikes on military plants, oil depots, and Pantsir-S2 air defense systems, Russian agencies and regional authorities traditionally claimed successful air defense operations. The Russian Ministry of Defense asserted that all approaching drones were shot down or suppressed by electronic warfare, yet numerous eyewitness videos on social media capturing massive fires and detonations directly refute official Russian claims of total interception.
Expert Assessments and Consequences
Military experts note that the regular use of proprietary long-range weapons allows Ukraine to transfer hostilities directly to the aggressor's territory, exhausting its economic and logistical potential. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked all involved servicemen for returning the war to where it came from, emphasizing that Moscow must realize the inevitability of stopping its escalation and terror.
