Sarah Rainsford
Eastern Europe correspondent
Reporting fromKyiv
Maia Davies
BBC News
Reporting fromLondon
Ukraine struck several targets deep inside Russia on Tuesday in what it says is its “most massive” attack of the war so far.
Ammunition depots and chemical plants were hit across several regions, some of which were hundreds of kilometres from the border, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Sources in Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency told the BBC the overnight attack was a “painful blow” to Russia’s ability to wage war.
Russia said it had shot down US-supplied Atacms missiles as well as UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and vowed to respond to the attack.
At least nine airports in central and western Russia temporarily halted traffic, while the strikes prompted schools in the southwestern Saratov region to close.
Strikes in the border region of Bryansk caused explosions at a refinery, ammunition depots and a chemical plant said to produce gunpowder and explosives, a Ukrainian security source told the BBC.
But Kyiv also struck far deeper into the country, with the General Staff claiming to have hit targets up to 1,100km (700 miles) from the border.
In the western region of Saratov, officials reported a “massive” drone attack.
Two industrial plants in the cities of Engels and Saratov were damaged, regional governor Roman Busargin wrote on Telegram.
Students were taught online on Tuesday after local schools were closed.
Last week, Kyiv said it had struck an oil storage facility in Engels – prompting a days-long effort to tackle the blaze and Busargin to declare a state of emergency.
Officials in the western region of Tula also reported an overnight attack, where regional governor Dmitry Milyaev Russian said air defences had shot down 16 drones.
There were no casualties, he said, although falling debri
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