Video Shows Fiery Aftermath as Ukraine Strikes S-300 Battery Inside Russia

Footage widely circulating online appears to show a blaze at a site in Russia's Rostov region, after Ukraine's armed forces said they had targeted one of Moscow's air defense systems across the border.

Ukraine's General Staff said early on Wednesday that Kyiv had struck a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system overnight near Novoshakhtinsk, a city in the west of Russia's Rostov region that borders the eastern Ukrainian Luhansk region.

Russia's border regions have increasingly felt the spillover effects of the nearly two-and-a-half years of war in Ukraine. Regions close to Ukraine have constantly reported drone strikes across the border, while Kyiv is more than two weeks into a surprise incursion in the Kursk region; Ukraine's military say this has yielded control of nearly 100 settlements to Kyiv.

There were "explosions" at the site near Novoshakhtinsk, Ukraine's military said, but did not specify how much damage the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system had sustained. A grainy clip published online by Russian sources and open-source intelligence accounts purports to show a fire at the Rostov site, but Newsweek could not independently verify the clip. The Russian Defense Ministry has been contacted for comment via email.

Rostov regional governor, Vasily Golubev, said in a post to messaging app Telegram that air defenses in the west of Rostov had shot down a missile at around 1 a.m. local time. There were no casualties or damage reported, the governor said in an initial statement.

Golubev later added that the debris from the downed missile had ignited fire across an area of dry vegetation, but that the blaze was quickly extinguished by emergency rescue services. Several houses were damaged in Novoshakhtinsk, the governor said.

Russia's Defense Ministry did not mention a Ukrainian-launched missile over Rostov in statements on Wednesday morning, but said Kyiv had launched 45 drones at Russia overnight.

A total of 11 were "destroyed" over Moscow, the defense ministry said. Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said in a post to Telegram that "this is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with drones ever."

Another 23 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) were taken out over the border Bryansk region, the defense ministry said. A combined total of 11 drones were intercepted over the Belgorod, Kaluga and Kursk regions, the Russian government said.

In a later statement, Moscow said a further two drones were shot down over Belgorod.

Ukraine has consistently targeted Russia's ground-based air defense systems, which can threaten vital Ukrainian assets, such as its newly-received F-16 fighter jets.

The S-300 is an earlier iteration of the S-400 air defense system, which Russia has widely used in its war effort.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian drones targeted an oil depot in the Rostov city of Proletarsk, sparking a fire that has been raging for several days.

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