Russia's Ministry of Defense says its forces struck and destroyed two Ukrainian drone command centers near Kharkiv, hitting control posts in the settlements of Shopino and Prudyanka. According to a statement carried by Russian state news agency TASS, three FAB-500 aerial bombs equipped with glide-and-correction modules were used to destroy a UAV control center belonging to Ukraine's 475th Separate Assault Regiment near Shopino. A separate strike, reportedly carried out with a light multipurpose guided missile, is said to have destroyed a UAV control center used by Ukraine's 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade in Prudyanka. Video footage circulating alongside the claims, bearing Russian military insignia, shows sequential explosions and rising smoke over tree-lined, rural settlements consistent with aerial bomb or missile impacts.

Prudyanka has appeared in Russian military reporting before. As early as August 2026, Russian sources identified the settlement as a site housing UAV control points tied to Ukrainian brigades operating in the Kharkiv border region. That earlier designation suggests the area had already been under Russian surveillance or targeting consideration well before this latest reported strike, framing the operation as part of a sustained campaign against Ukrainian drone infrastructure near the border rather than an isolated incident.

It is important to note that these details originate solely from Russian military statements and state media, and have not been independently verified by Ukrainian officials or third-party sources at this time. The Kharkiv region has been the site of near-constant, reciprocal strikes in recent weeks, with both Russian and Ukrainian forces regularly targeting each other's command posts, drone facilities, and reconnaissance assets along the border. Ukrainian forces have likewise reported destroying Russian command-and-observation posts and drone-related infrastructure in the same general period, underscoring how contested and fast-moving the information environment around this front remains.

As with much reporting from active war zones, claims from either side of this conflict are difficult to verify independently and are often released for strategic or morale purposes as much as factual disclosure. Russia's stated goal in publicizing the strikes appears aimed at demonstrating continued pressure on Ukraine's drone warfare capabilities, which have become a central feature of the broader conflict. Whether these specific command centers were fully destroyed, partially damaged, or whether personnel losses occurred remains unconfirmed by neutral observers. Readers should treat the claims as one side's account of the fighting until corroborated by additional, independent sources.