Burned locomotives, port attack, UAV strikes: weekly recap of attacks on Russia

Learn more about the "booms" in Russia and the temporarily occupied territories in Espreso's weekly review.

Burned locomotives, oil depot hit, UAV strikes, command post attack in Kursk

• On the night of December 30, guerrillas destroyed two locomotives in the Moscow region of Russia that were to be sent to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Participants in the Mariupol resistance movement set fire to a new EP2D-0014 electric train at the Dmitrov station in the Moscow region, which, after a major repair at the Dmitrov Machine-Building Plant (DMP), was planned to be sent to the occupied territories. Additionally, guerrillas carried out a sabotage operation by setting fire to a diesel locomotive at the Lobnya depot in the Moscow region. Preliminary results indicate that it suffered irreparable damage.
• On the night of Tuesday, December 31, Russian authorities reported a drone attack on the Smolensk region, which resulted in a fire at an oil depot. According to the head of the Yartsevsky district in the Smolensk region, Roman Zakharov, the attack caused fires, but he later deleted his statement. The General Staff later confirmed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had struck another Russian oil depot. "Tonight, special forces units, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces' UAV systems and other components of the Defense Forces, targeted the Yartsevskaya oil depot in the Smolensk region of Russia," they stated.
• A total of 68 drones were allegedly destroyed in Russian airspace on the last night of 2024. 25 were shot down over the Bryansk region, 17 over the occupied Crimea, 11 over the Krasnodar region, 10 over the Smolensk region, two over the Tver region, and one each over the Rostov, Kursk, and Kaluga regions.

• The Ukrainian Military Intelligence also reported that in December, nine pieces of railway equipment were destroyed in fires on Russian territory. Russia used them to transport weapons and ammunition: one 1TE116 diesel locomotive and two EP2D electric trains (Moscow region), two VL-80 electric locomotives (Ryazan region), one SM-2 locomotive and one AGS-1Sh railcar (Tyumen region), one VL-80 electric locomotive (Rostov region), and one UTM-2M diesel locomotive (Sverdlovsk region).

  ‼️ “РЖД” ― в іржу: за грудень на росії знищено 9 одиниць рухомого залізничного складу
  
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  — Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) December 31, 2024

• Meanwhile, on the evening of January 1, temporary flight restrictions were imposed at airports in Kaluga, Penza, Saransk, and Saratov. According to Russia's Ministry of Defense, several regions of the aggressor country allegedly came under drone attacks on the evening of January 1. Initially, they claimed that air defense systems had destroyed 19 Ukrainian drones: 10 over the Belgorod region, 3 over the Kursk region, 2 over the Voronezh region, 2 over the Bryansk region, and 2 over the Rostov region. Later, they reported 14 more drones allegedly shot down, including 2 over the Tula region and 1 over the Oryol region.
• On Thursday, January 2, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck a Russian army command post in Maryino, Kursk region. The General Staff noted that Ukrainian forces took "all necessary measures to minimize risks to the lives of local civilians." The Ukrainian military explained that such fire strikes are primarily aimed at weakening Russia's ability and willingness to carry out terrorist acts against the Ukrainian civilian population.
• In the Ivanovo region of Russia, on Friday, January 3, a Russian war criminal, involved in the killing of civilians in the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region, was seriously injured in an explosion. This concerns Captain Kostiantin Nagaiko, commander of the battery of the 112th missile brigade of the 1st Tank Army of the Russian Armed Forces' Western Military District. During the explosion in the city of Shuya, Ivanovo region, he was on duty at his military unit. The Ukrainian Military Intelligence reported that Nagaiko sustained multiple shrapnel wounds to nearly all organs, including his brain, and underwent a craniotomy. "In the Russian 112th missile brigade, there are depressing rumors that 29-year-old Russian murderer Nagaiko has almost no chance. His condition is critical," the intelligence service added.
• On the night of Saturday, January 4, Russia once again claimed a drone attack on five regions. Explosions were reported in the Smolensk region. According to their data, 10 drones were allegedly destroyed over the Bryansk region, three over the Smolensk region, and one each over the Belgorod, Pskov, and Leningrad regions. Meanwhile, the governor of the Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, stated that thanks to air defense systems, a total of five drones were downed in the Safonovsky and Ershitsky districts during the night. Online sources suggest that the target of the attack in the Smolensk region could have been the Avangard enterprise, which manufactures transport-launch containers and solid-fuel rocket motor cases. The plant is part of the large Russian missile-building holding company NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the Tactical Missiles Corporation.
• On January 4, drones attacked the largest sea trade port in Russia, Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region, which is the second largest port in Russia after Novorossiysk. Most of the drones in the Leningrad region were allegedly shot down over the Novatrans terminal at the Ust-Luga sea trade port, sources said. Preliminary information indicates that windows were damaged in one of the buildings within the port area. The Russian aviation oversight service, Rosaviatsiya, also reported that Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg temporarily halted arrivals and departures from 7:45 a.m. for the safety of civilian aircraft. According to Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of the northern part of the Leningrad region, which includes St. Petersburg, Russian forces shot down two drones near the Luzhskaya Bay in the Gulf of Finland.
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Russian HQ destroyed in Zaporizhzhia, helicopters hit in Crimea, explosions in Sevastopol

• In the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian forces carried out a special operation to destroy a Russian command post along with the occupying forces. According to the report, aerial reconnaissance units of the Department of Active Operations of the HUR detected a Russian command post in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region. Later, in cooperation with the Tavria operational-strategic troop grouping, the forces launched a missile strike on the target. As a result of the operation, the Russian command post was destroyed.
• In the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, explosions were heard on the night of December 31. The occupying authorities reported an attack by drones from both air and sea. Sevastopol Governor Mykhailo Razvozhayev wrote around midnight that an explosion had occurred in the city. According to him, Russian air defense systems supposedly shot down 2 aircraft-type drones over the Black Sea. Half an hour later, Razvozhayev wrote again about explosions, claiming that the Russians had repelled an attack by surface drones and destroyed one unmanned boat.

• On December 31, soldiers from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Special Operations Group 13 made history by striking two Russian Mi-8 helicopters using Magura V5 attack sea drones. It was reported that during a battle in the Black Sea near Cape Tarkhankut in the temporarily occupied Crimea, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed with P-73 SeeDragon missiles. Intelligence added that, according to preliminary information, the crews of the destroyed helicopters were also eliminated. Later, the head of the HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, shared that the Magura V5 drones had previously attacked Russian air forces several times, but the aircraft had managed to reach the coastline after being damaged. This time, however, the downed helicopter fell into the water.

Expert insights

Military expert, and co-chair of the Civic Initiative Prava Sprava, Dmytro Sniehyrov, emphasized that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are effectively eliminating Russian forces in the Kursk region using precise Western weaponry.

“The strike was aimed at an exclusively legitimate military target. We are talking about the Lgov College, a training base for UAV operators. The college was not only used for training UAV operators, but also for logistics warehouses where UAVs were stored,” Sniehyrov explained.

The Telegraph reports on Ukraine's development of a new modification of a cruise missile and notes that the new Ukrainian cruise missile, Trembita, "could become the biggest symbol of Ukraine's ambition for autonomy in firepower."

"Anticipating the day when it will run out of bespoke American munitions – most notably, 190-mile-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) ballistic missiles – Ukraine is getting ready to build Trembitas and other long-range deep-strike munitions," the report states.

Military expert from Defense Express Ivan Kyrychevskyi explained that Russia was unprepared for strikes by long-range drones on Russian oil refining industry facilities in 2024.

"Formally, the Russians could have known that Ukraine has various propeller drones, which, although carrying relatively small payloads, can still strike key targets in Russia. They may have assumed these drones would only target strategic aviation airfields," he said. "But in reality, the Russians were unprepared to counter our drone strike campaign, which involved a relatively small number of kamikaze drones, for a variety of reasons."