The Russian army received instructions from the Kremlin on October 2 and 3 to prepare massive missile strikes on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine.
Ukrainian military intelligence reported this on the day of the strikes, October 10.
Thus, the military units of the strategic and long-range aviation received orders to prepare for the task of massive missile attacks. The targets are objects of critical civil infrastructure and central areas of densely populated Ukrainian cities. Russiaʼs main goal was to destroy the TPP, create panic among Ukrainians and intimidate the European public.
As part of preparations for the strikes on October 8, seven Tu-160 strategic bombers were relocated from "Engels" airfield (Saratov region) to the "Olenya" airfield (Murmansk region) and equipped with X-101 cruise missiles. On the external raid of Sevastopol, six carriers of cruise missiles with forty "Kalibr" missiles were brought out.
- On the morning of October 10, Russia launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine: it launched at least 83 missiles, 43 of which were shot down by air defense forces. 11 infrastructure objects were damaged, and 10 people died.