Ukrainian Drones Strike Targets Across Russia As Trump Orders US Nuclear Subs To Region

By Ray Furlong

Explosions and fires were reported across several Russian regions following a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks as US President Donald Trump said he was deploying nuclear submarines "closer to Russia" days ahead of a deadline he gave Moscow to make a peace deal with Kyiv.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on August 2 that its drones had hit an air base storing Shahed drones in Primorsko-Akhtarsk and the Elektroprylad military plant in Penza.

The Ukrainian Army's General Staff reported strikes on oil refineries.

Authorities in Russia's Samara region announced flight restrictions at an airport, the latest in a series of recent measures as Ukrainian attacks disrupt civil aviation in Russia.

The regional governor confirmed a strike on an industrial facility in Novokuybyshevsk, prompting a temporary shutdown of mobile Internet service. He said a civilian was killed by falling debris from an intercepted drone.

Fires were also seen in Ryazan region, while residents in Lipetsk and Voronezh reported drone activity and air-defence operations.

In occupied Crimea the Kerch Bridge -- which connects the peninsula with Russia -- was blocked for more than five hours, and explosions were heard in Feodosia and Kerch.

Russia's Defence Ministry reported attacks in eight regions and claimed to have intercepted or destroyed 112 drones.

Meanwhile, Russia launched an overnight attack on Ukraine with 53 drones, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. It said 45 had been shot down. In Kherson, a 68-year-old woman was killed and a 41-year-old man was injured.

The latest exchanges came amid an escalation in rhetoric between Washington and Moscow.

US President Donald Trump said he was moving two nuclear submarines to regions near Russia following threats related to the war in Ukraine from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Trump did not specify whether these were nuclear-powered or nuclear armed submarines.

"I just want to make sure that his words are only words and nothing more than that," Trump told Newsmax television.

He was referring to a social media post by Medvedev, in which he accused the United States of playing a "game of ultimatums" in response to Trump's announcement that he had shortened a 50-day deadline for Russia to stop its war against Ukraine to 10 days.

On his X page from July 28, Medvedev wrote that "each new ultimatum is a threat and a step toward war."

He further urged Trump not to "follow the path" of former US President Joe Biden, whom Moscow had frequently accused of escalating tensions with Russia.

After being told by Trump to "watch his words" on July 31, Medvedev went further by reminding the US president of Russia's Dead Hand command system designed to automatically launch Moscow's nuclear missiles if the country's leadership were taken out.

Trump's deadline to Moscow is August 8, but it's not clear what might follow that date. He has spoken of imposing further sanctions on Russia and crippling secondary tariffs on countries importing Russian oil.

Given that these would include China and India, some analysts have expressed scepticism that Washington will take this measure. [RFE/RL/VP]

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