Dozens of Blasts Hit Russian City of Kursk in Overnight Drone Strike (Video)

Ukraine launched a powerful overnight drone attack on multiple Russian regions, with the border area of Kursk suffering over thirty separate explosions. The assault, which took place just days after a deadly Russian attack on Ukrainian soil, resulted in the death of an eighty five year old woman and left nine others injured. Fires broke out in several residential and emergency service buildings, and residents were evacuated as Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles overwhelmed Russian air defences.

Russian authorities admitted that at least one hundred and nine drones were downed in Kursk, though the real number launched by Ukraine is likely higher. Local officials confirmed the drone strikes ignited fires in a multi storey apartment block, damaging several flats. According to Acting Mayor Sergey Kotlyarov, evacuees were moved to a nearby school. An ambulance depot was also hit, damaging eleven emergency vehicles.

The attack formed part of a wider Ukrainian aerial campaign targeting five Russian regions, including Moscow Oblast. The strikes, following increased Russian bombardments along the Zaporizhzhia front, illustrate Ukraine’s capacity to project force deep into Russian territory while simultaneously holding the line against Russian offensives on the battlefield.

On the ground, Ukrainian defenders have repelled Russian advances near Zaporizhzhia, destroying armoured vehicles and artillery, including a mortar crew and two MSTA B howitzers. The frontline has remained tense as Russian troops press forward in multiple oblasts, though with limited success.

Meanwhile, growing concerns are being voiced over the state of Russia’s ageing air defence network, much of which dates back to the Soviet era. According to reports from the VChK OGPU Telegram channel, Russia’s early warning systems are grossly inadequate. Soviet-era infrastructure has crumbled, and key radar and radio technical support units, once vital for air defence missile systems, are nearly non-existent.

A once vast system of over two hundred and fifty Soviet air defence regiments has been reduced to a mere fraction of its former capability. Today, Russia is reportedly only able to defend airspace around Moscow from basic drones. Elsewhere, both civilian and military infrastructure is left vulnerable.

Despite throwing large sums of money at defence firms such as Almaz-Antey, insiders claim these efforts are producing little more than presentations and paper concepts. The only functioning drone defence system, Pantsir, was originally developed in the 1990s with funds from Arab countries and Western designs. The capacity to build new systems is reportedly hindered by a lack of funding, industry expertise, and qualified personnel.

An anonymous defence source summarised the current crisis: “There is no money, no enterprises, and, most importantly, no people left to rebuild what has been lost.”

Further compounding Russia’s woes, the missile warning system (SKKP) has seen a string of failures. In 2023 alone, it triggered seven serious false alarms, suggesting dangerous shortcomings due to poor maintenance and corruption. Some failures are thought to be linked to fake components swapped in for military standard equipment, resulting in fraud charges against senior officials.

In the broader conflict, Ukraine continues to stress the danger posed by the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, still under Russian occupation. Ukrainian officials warn the facility is unsafe to restart, citing infrastructure damage, inadequate cooling, and the presence of Russian military forces on-site.

While Russia marks its Air Defence Day, its skies remain increasingly vulnerable, highlighting the continued collapse of its once feared military infrastructure.