Bohdan Pechenyak (@bohdan81.bsky.social)

Ukrainian drones hit key Ulyanovsk power hub linking Urals and central grid, forcing airport closures Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s Ulyanovsk region, sparking a major fire at the Veshkayma electrical substation and forcing two large airports to suspend operations. The Veshkayma substation is a key node in the Middle Volga’s energy “ring,” the Telegram channel Supernova+ said. It connects power systems across several regions and links the Urals with central Russia, including the Ulyanovsk and Samara regions. Initial footage from the scene has emerged. Airports in the Russian cities of Izhevsk and Ufa also paused operations amid the drone threat. Russian monitoring channels reported air-defense activity in the Ulyanovsk region, but the Defense Ministry’s daily update did not mention it. The ministry said only that drones were downed over the Bryansk, Kaluga and Moscow regions, as well as over the Black Sea. Earlier, Ukrainian drones hit oil depots, a warehouse and a radar site in Russian-occupied Crimea. Targets included an oil facility in the settlement of Hvardiiske, the grounds of the Hvardiiske industrial complex in the Saky district, a Russian military warehouse in Dzhankoi and a radar site in Yevpatoria. Separately, the Russian resort city of Sochi has come under drone and missile attack, local authorities said. Hotels began evacuating tourists, residents were urged to stay in interior rooms and avoid going outside, and the city’s international airport temporarily halted flights because of the drone threat. https://www.uawire.org/ukrainian-drones-hit-key-ulyanovsk-power-hub-linking-urals-and-central-grid-forcing-airport-closures