Another night of cross-border clashes was recorded between Ukraine and Russia, as Kyiv announced on Saturday that it had carried out a long-range strike on a military-industrial facility in Volgograd, while Moscow launched a wave of drones toward Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian FP-5 “Flamingo” missiles struck the Titan-Barrikady plant.
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In a Telegram post on Saturday, Zelensky stressed that “every Russian defense facility working for the war against Ukraine is a legitimate target for our long-range strikes.” He added that the missiles “successfully struck the Titan-Barrikady enterprise in Volgograd,” which he described as “a major industrial complex where the enemy produces artillery systems and specialized military equipment, including components for multiple rocket launchers used to strike our people.”
According to him, one of the strikes caused a fire to break out on the plant’s grounds. Zelensky also thanked Ukraine’s Defense Forces “for their precision.”
The Titan-Barrikady facility is located in Volgograd’s Krasnoktiabrsky district and is linked to the production of artillery systems, specialized military equipment, and components for rocket launcher systems.
Footage published online showed explosions and clouds of smoke rising above the plant after the reported strike. Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov acknowledged that Ukrainian “high-speed” projectiles had hit the city and damaged production facilities at an enterprise in the Krasnoktiabrsky district.
Bocharov said 10 people were injured in the attack. He did not mention the facility by name, but Titan-Barrikady is located in that very district.
At the same time, Russia carried out another major drone attack against Ukraine during the night of June 26–27. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russian forces used 129 drones, including Shahed attack drones, Gerbera and Italmas drones, as well as Parodiya decoy drones.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the drones were launched from several directions, including Kursk, Bryansk, Millerovo, Oryol, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, as well as occupied Crimea and occupied Donetsk.
Ukraine said its air defenses shot down 113 drones in the north, south, and east of the country. Officials said 13 strike drones reached their targets at seven locations, while the debris of neutralized drones fell in three other areas.
In the northeastern Sumy region, local authorities said on Saturday that more than 60 Russian attacks over the past 24 hours killed one person and wounded 14 others. Damage to homes, vehicles, and civilian infrastructure was also reported in the border region.
The overnight clashes came amid rising tensions in occupied Crimea, where Russian-installed authorities declared a state of emergency after continuous Ukrainian attacks on the peninsula.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed leader of Crimea, said the measure was intended to make it easier to manage procedures for damage and compensation claims. The decision came amid reports of power outages, fuel restrictions, and growing pressure on local infrastructure.
Authorities reported ongoing problems with electricity supplies in Crimea and Sevastopol, while fuel sales have been limited. Officials also suspended the admission of children to summer camps for the remainder of the season, although the tourist season was not officially canceled.
Amid the fighting, on June 26 Russia and Ukraine carried out another prisoner exchange, with each side receiving back 160 prisoners of war. The exchange, mediated by the United Arab Emirates, remains one of the few areas in which Moscow and Kyiv continue to coordinate.
Zelensky confirmed that 160 Ukrainian soldiers had returned from Russian captivity. According to him, almost all had been held since 2022, and among them were defenders of Mariupol and the Azovstal steel plant.
He also said that since the start of the full-scale invasion, more than 9,500 people have been returned, including 1,596 Ukrainians in 2026.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that over the past 24 hours Russia lost 1,350 troops, as well as tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, drones, missiles, and other equipment.
Russia does not regularly publish similar battlefield data, and the claims of both sides cannot be independently verified./RFE/RL
