On the night of Thursday, Makhachkala was attacked by Ukrainian drones. Numerous videos of explosions and smoke over the city appeared on social media. According to the independent publication Astra, the main target of the attack was the Makhachkala commercial port — the only ice-free Russian port on the Caspian Sea, through which the transportation of petroleum products and other cargoes takes place. Acting head of Dagestan Fyodor Shchukin reported that as a result of debris from the downed drones, fires broke out at port infrastructure facilities and in the Avar Theater building. According to him, the fires were promptly extinguished, and there were no casualties or injuries. Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed strikes on the Makhachkala port. He also stated that Ukrainian forces attacked facilities in the Moscow, Voronezh, Astrakhan, and Bryansk regions. Due to the drone raid, Russian authorities temporarily suspended the operations of the airports in Makhachkala, Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Krasnodar, and Sochi. The attacks also affected other regions of Russia. In the Voronezh region, according to local authorities, a woman was killed, and two others were injured. In Sochi, local authorities reported that the strike by naval drones caused a fire on the beach. Videos published by eyewitnesses show a burning café, and the publication Astra reports partial destruction of one of the restaurants on the embankment. According to official data, at least 28 people were injured in the attack in Sochi, four of whom were hospitalized. In addition, the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ published a satellite image of a fire in the Sea of Azov. The authors of the publication suggest that one of the vessels of the Russian 'shadow fleet' is on fire, but there is currently no independent confirmation of this information. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that overnight, air defense systems shot down 448 Ukrainian drones over 12 regions of the country and annexed Crimea. The Russian military did not report how many drones reached their targets. At the same time, the scale of the attacks indicates that strikes on facilities in Russian territory continue to expand and cover regions located far from the front line.
