Ukraine Drone Targets Putin's Home Region for the First Time

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with heads of municipalities in the constituent entities of Russia in the Moscow region on January 16, 2024. Ukrainian drones targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home region, Leningrad, for the first time since the war began.

A drone has targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s home region, Leningrad, for the first time since full-scale war in Ukraine began, Russia said on Thursday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a drone was shot down over the Leningrad region overnight.

Putin was born in Leningrad, which changed its name to St. Petersburg in 1991. However, the region, or oblast, around the city retains its Soviet-era name.

“Duty air defense systems destroyed one unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Moscow region and intercepted one over the territory of the Leningrad region,” Russia’s defense ministry said on its Telegram channel.

Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov said no one was injured in the attack.

“Investigations are ongoing,” he added.

Vladimir Rogov, a Kremlin-installed official in the administration of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, offered more details, saying Kyiv’s forces had failed in an attempt to target a Baltic Sea oil terminal overnight.

“The port infrastructure was not damaged and no one was injured,” said Rogov on his Telegram channel, adding that Leningrad was the 19th Russian region that Ukraine has targeted in the war so far. His list included the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Putin illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, 2022.

Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment by email.

Russia has been hit with waves of drone strikes throughout the war, with many targeting ammunition depots and warehouses. Ukraine rarely claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia, and Kyiv has not officially commented on the latest incident.

Russia was targeted in a large-scale drone attack in November, when authorities reported downing 24 drones across at least four regions, including Moscow.

An attack on Moscow on May 30, 2023, marked the first time the city had been hit by a large-scale drone strike during the war.

Targets included a residence belonging to Putin and mansions belonging to prominent associates of the Russian president. Putin told Russia’s State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) at the time that he was concerned the drone attacks were an attempt by Ukraine to evoke a response from Russia. Ukraine did not claim responsibility for that attack.

“They are provoking us into taking mirror actions. We will see what to do about it,” the Russian leader said.

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