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The end of April was marked by the resumption of massive strikes by Russian forces deep into Ukrainian rear areas. On April 29, at least ten Ukrainian drones targeted the territory of the Crimean peninsula. One of them hit the fuel tank in Sevastopol. Ukrainian attempts to destroy Russian fuel reserves are an important step on the eve of offensive operations. Russian retaliation strikes were not long behind. On the night of May 1, massive attack hit military facilities throughout Ukraine. Explosions thundered in different regions of Ukraine, including Kiev, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. At least five explosions thundered in the city of Kramatorsk, which is an important railway hub used for the supply of the Ukrainian military in the Donbass. According to the estimates from the Ukrainian side, more than a hundred cruise missiles, as well as several dozen kamikaze drones were allegedly involved in the attack. However, Kiev is in no hurry to disclose the damage. The Ukrainian media noted that the electricity supply was not interrupted in the targeted Ukrainian regions, which emphasizes that Russian forces hit exclusively military facilities. The head of the office of the Ukrainian president was forced to urgently appeal to Ukrainians in the middle of the night with a request not to publish videos of the explosions and not to disclose the work of the Ukrainian air defense. However, some of the blows were so strong that the Ukrainians failed to hide them. A powerful strike hit the city of Pavlograd in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Local authorities confirmed that a Russian missile struck an industrial facility. It is supposed that the target was the Pavlograd Chemical Plant, which was one of the main plants in the USSR for the production of solid-fuel ballistic missiles. After decommissioning, the missiles should have been disposed at this plant. However, as of the beginning of 2022, there were about 30 pieces of fuel from the first stages of the missiles, up to 900 tons in total. The remnants of this unprocessed fuel could have detonate due to the night attack. The target for Russian strikes could also be the workshops of the plant, where fuel is produced for the new Ukrainian long-range ballistic missiles named “Grim”. If so, then the Ukrainian program was stalled. In Pavlograd, there are also two strategically important railway junctions from where military echelons with equipment and ammunition are transferred to the front lines. Judging by the footage from the spot it was estimated that two divisions of Ukrainian S-300 systems and their backup ammunition could have been destroyed in the night attack. If so, the Ukrainian air defenses have suffered the heaviest damage. On the eve of the large-scale offensive announced by Kiev, the intensity of Russian strikes will continue to increase.
