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Russia is reportedly preparing to conduct another massive strike against Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on May 29 that Ukrainian intelligence indicates that Russia is preparing a new massive strike package against Ukraine. Zelensky did not specify the timeline for the planned Russian strike. Zelensky correctly warned on May 23 of a massive Russian strike ahead of Russia’s devastating missile and drone strike package that included 90 missiles on the night of May 23 to 24.
Ukrainian forces struck Russian military assets, including an Iskander missile system, in Rostov Oblast on the night of May 29 to 30. Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) reported that Ukrainian strikes destroyed two Tu-142 long-range aircraft at a Russian military air base in Taganrog and an Iskander missile system at a launch position near Taganrog. Geolocated footage published on May 30 confirms the destruction of a Tu-142 at the Taganrog Airport and the Iskander system near Mykhailovka (northwest of Taganrog). Ukrainian defense source Militarnyi, citing satellite imagery and open sources, reported that the two Tu-142 aircraft have been in long-term storage at the Taganrog Aviation Plant since 2011 and that Russian forces moved them in April and May 2026 onto auxiliary runways for unclear reasons. Ukrainian officials reported that Ukrainian forces also struck a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker at the Taganrog oil depot and the Kurganneftoprodukt oil terminal in Taganrog overnight. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces damaged a fuel tank at the oil terminal. Rostov Oblast Governor Yuri Slyusar claimed that Ukrainian drone strikes started fires at the port, a tanker, a fuel tank, and an administrative building in Taganrog.
The Ukrainian strike campaign against Russian supply lines in occupied Ukraine also includes remote mining in depth. A Russian milblogger claimed on May 29 that Ukrainian forces have started to remotely mine roads along the M-14 Mariupol-Melitopol highway, the same highway that Ukrainian forces are interdicting with Hornet drones to degrade Russian operational logistics. The milblogger claimed that Ukraine’s remote mining could disable unarmored vehicles and cause transport disruptions and road closures. The milblogger had previously warned on May 26 that scattered mines — should Ukraine pursue this line of effort — could regularly close the road to traffic, slow traffic on alternative routes, and shut down nighttime transport. Another Russian milblogger posted pictures on May 29 purportedly showing the new types of mines Ukrainian forces are dropping from drones at a depth of 100 to 150 kilometers from the frontline. Ukraine has significantly increased its mid-range drone strike campaign against ground lines of communication (GLOCs) in occupied Ukraine, particularly in southern Ukraine near Mariupol, and these reported new remote mining efforts aim to support this strike campaign to disrupt and disable Russian supplies to various sectors of the front.
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