Ukrainian drones targeted four Russian airfields Wednesday in the largest such attack of the war, as Kyiv’s troops advance further into Russia following their surprise cross-border incursion that has left the Kremlin embarrassed and scrambling.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the military for the attacks, which he described as “precise, timely and effective,” in a video address released the same day he said Kyiv’s forces had captured Russian soldiers in southern Russia and destroyed a Russian fighter jet.
“Our Ukrainian drones work exactly as they should. Still, there are things that cannot be done with drones alone,” Zelensky said.
A source in Ukraine’s security service told CNN it was the “biggest attack” on Russia’s airfields since the war began and targeted four bases in the southwest regions of Kursk and Voronezh, and Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow.
It comes as Ukraine’s massive ground incursion has forced tens of thousands of Russians from their homes and put Russia on the back foot as it struggles to repel Kyiv’s troops.
Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 117 “aircraft-type” drones and four tactical missiles over Kursk and neighboring regions.
More than 35 Ukraine-launched drones were destroyed over Voronezh, its Gov. Aleksandr Gusev said Wednesday on Telegram.
While there were no casualties, the attack damaged properties, vehicles and municipal infrastructure, Gusev said, adding there was a risk of further drone attacks.
A statement by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Wednesday claimed that Ukraine’s Air Force “destroyed a Russian SU-34 fighter-bomber” in the Kursk region on Tuesday night.
In Belgorod, which neighbors Kursk, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov declared a regional emergency Wednesday, calling the situation on the ground “extremely difficult and tense” in a message on Telegram. Residents began evacuating Monday because of Ukrainian advances.
Regional authorities are now appealing to the Kremlin to declare a federal emergency, Gladkov said.
In his address Wednesday, Zelensky called for further support from Ukraine’s Western supporters, saying: “We need other weapons - missile weapons. And we continue to work with our partners on long-range solutions for Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Western partners have been reluctant to supply Kyiv with long-range missiles that can penetrate deep into Russian territory.
Zelensky said his forces had advanced in Russia’s Kursk region by 1 to 2 kilometers since the beginning of the day and had captured 100 Russian servicemen.
View this interactive content on CNN.comKyiv has already claimed to have control over some 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory since the start of its surprise assault.
A video posted by the Agence France-Presse news agency at the border crossing between Ukraine’s Sumy region and Kursk showed a Ukrainian truck carrying blindfolded men in Russian military uniforms traveling away from Russia.
CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment on the video.
‘Buffer zone’
Ukraine’s incursion – which poses a major embarrassment for the Kremlin – represents a notable change in tactics for Kyiv, marking the first time foreign troops have entered Russian territory since World War II.
Since the incursion began, tens of thousands of Russians have fled their homes while Moscow scrambles to contain the attack, imposing counter-terror operations in Kursk, Belgorod and another border region, Bryansk.
Russia has pulled reserves from key battleground areas in Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea to repel Kyiv’s advances, a Ukrainian military commander told CNN Wednesday.
Dymtro Kholod, commander of the “Nightingale” battalion, told a CNN team on the ground in Sumy that the military had “information” suggesting Russian soldiers were being pulled from Zaporizhzhia, Crimea and Kharkiv to halt Kyiv’s forces.
A Ukrainian minister said the aim of the operation in Kursk is to create a “security zone” on Russian soil to protect border communities, particularly in Sumy, which have seen persistent Russian artillery and missile fire throughout the war.
“The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily enemy attacks,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.
Ukrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk also said Ukraine would open “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate civilians either to Ukraine or within Russia.
Ukraine’s latest move has prompted an angered Russia to take peace negotiations off the table for the foreseeable future.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s special envoy, Rodion Miroshnik, said at a briefing on Wednesday that Moscow will be “at minimum” putting the talks with Ukraine on a “long pause.” Peace negotiations between the warring nations have proven unsuccessful since the start of the war in February 2022.
Russia’s National Guard said on Wednesday it had tightened security around the Kursk nuclear plant in Russia’s southwest.
Last week, the director general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint to avoid a nuclear accident.
On Monday, Kyiv claimed to have gained control of nearly the same amount of land that Russia had seized so far this year – though that is still dwarfed by the total Ukrainian territory held by Russia since the conflict started in 2014.
On Tuesday, Zelensky said Kyiv’s forces were in control of 74 settlements in Kursk and they are making preparations for “next steps” in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has meanwhile vowed to “kick the enemy out” of Russia.
US President Joe Biden addressed the incursion on Tuesday, saying he was receiving regular updates from staff and that it was “creating a real dilemma for Putin.”
CNN’s Alex Stambaugh, Jessie Yeung, Caitlin Danaher, Duarte Mendonca and Sergey Gudkov contributed reporting.