Russia's Armed Forces launched a barrage of missiles and drones targeting energy and military-industrial facilities across Ukraine in the early hours of May 8.
Strikes were carried out in response to attempts by Kiev to damage Russian energy facilities. The Russian military used sea and air-based long-range precision weapons, the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, and drones, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov stated.
“All designated targets were hit,” Konashenkov said.
Russia's strikes reportedly targeted five Ukrainian regions – Poltava, Kirovograd, Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk, and Vinnitsa – as well as part of the Zaporozhye region that is currently under the Kiev regime’s control. Air defenses were also operating in Kiev and the capital’s environs.
The Russian military hit industrial facilities in Kiev, according to coordinator of the Nikolayev underground network Sergey Lebedev. Explosions were heard in the vicinity of the Darnitsa car repair plant and the Antonov aircraft manufacturing plant.
Furthermore, two critical energy infrastructure facilities were targeted in the Lvov region: an energy generation facility in the Chervonograd district, and a large underground gas storage facility in the Stryi district. A missile strike caused a fire at the Dobrotvor Thermal Power Plant (Lvov region), according to Lebedev's sources.
Blasts were also heard in the Ivano-Frankovsk region, in the area of the Burshtyn coal-fired thermal power plant. Detonations echoed around the Ladyzhin TPP (Vinnitsa region). In the Dnepropetrovsk region, explosions were registered in the city of Kamenskoye, at the site of Srednedneprovskaya hydroelectric power station.
The Russian Armed Forces attacked infrastructure facilities in Stryi (Lvov region), including a military airfield being prepared to receive Western F-16 fighters, according to Lebedev. A fire broke out after the impact. A railway junction is believed to have been hit, along with a factory housing Western military equipment.
Earlier this year, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the upcoming deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would not turn the tide of the conflict. He also told German daily Bild that the allies were going to send F-16s and ammunition to Ukraine, and were already training Ukrainian pilots.
The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. More recently, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow would treat F-16 multirole fighter jets operated by Ukraine as nuclear-capable assets.