Ukraine's June 28–29 Drone Blitz in Crimea: Saky Power Plant Hit, Blackouts Worsen as Emergency Deepens

Ukraine conducted a wave of drone strikes across occupied Crimea on the night of June 28–29, 2025, hitting the Saky Thermal Power Plant and an electrical substation near Nekrasivka, while separate strikes around June 23–26 had already targeted S-300/S-400 air defense systems near Kerch. The attacks deepened an existing humanitarian and energy crisis that had already prompted Russia to declare a state of emergency, suspend all fuel sales, and impose rolling blackouts.

Strike details (June 28–29, 2025)

On the night of June 28, drones struck the Saky Combined Heat and Power Plant near the city of Saky. A fire broke out in the area of the plant's fuel storage tanks, confirmed by NASA's FIRMS satellite monitoring system and local Telegram channels. Around 16 explosions were reported near the facility over the course of an hour . A separate drone attack hit an electrical substation near the village of Nekrasivka (Bakhchysarai district) on the night of June 28–29, contributing to large-scale power outages across Crimea, Kherson Oblast, and occupied Donetsk .

Note on the "Marianivka" substation: No direct evidence of a "Marianivka" substation strike was found in the search results. The nearest match is the Nekrasivka substation hit on June 29. The name "Marianivka" may be a conflation or a different target not captured in available reporting. One OSINT group, Exilenova Plus, did report on June 29 that drone strikes hit a "major electrical substation in the village of Marianivka," citing NASA FIRMS data, but the preponderance of reporting from outlets like Ukrainska Pravda, RBC Ukraine, and Krymskyi Veter identifies the substation near Nekrasivka as the primary energy infrastructure hit that night .

S-300/S-400 strikes near Kerch (late June 2025)

• On June 23, Ukrainian drones struck over 60 targets in Crimea, including an S-300 launcher near Kurortne (Kerch Peninsula) and a Nebo-U radar station in Kerch .
• On June 26, Ukraine's "Ghosts" drone unit (HUR) destroyed multiple S-400 radar systems (two 92N2E multifunctional radars and two 91N6E long-range radars) and at least one S-400 missile launcher, significantly degrading the S-400 shield over Crimea .
• On June 27–28 (the night before the power plant strikes), the SBU struck Kirovske military airfield, destroying Mi-8, Mi-26, and Mi-28 helicopters as well as a Pantsir-S1 air defense system .
• On July 1, monitors reported that S-300 and S-400 launchers and radar installations were struck on the Kerch Peninsula near Kurortne, suggesting the campaign continued into early July .

Rolling blackouts, fuel crisis, and state of emergency

By June 21, Russian-installed authorities had already completely suspended fuel sales at all gas stations in Crimea, halting cash, card, and coupon transactions . Rolling power outages were imposed starting June 21, with blackouts reported in Sevastopol, Alushta, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, and Feodosia . On June 26, Russian-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov declared a regional state of emergency in Crimea, citing fuel shortages, power outages, and disrupted logistics caused by weeks of Ukrainian strikes . The strikes on Saky TPP and the Nekrasivka substation on June 28–29 worsened the blackouts already in effect, with reports of widespread outages across Crimea, Kherson, and Donetsk on the morning of June 29 .

Estonia's position on the deep-strike campaign

The search results did not produce any specific article or official statement from Estonia directly addressing the June 28–29 strikes or the risk of stray drones entering NATO airspace. The broader context: NBC News reported on June 23 that Ukraine's sustained drone campaign aims to create a "psych breaking point for Moscow," and that senior Western officials have publicly acknowledged some Ukrainian drones may cross into NATO airspace but consider this an acceptable risk . Estonia has been among the most vocal NATO allies supporting Ukraine's unrestricted deep-strike campaign, and no source in the provided material shows Tallinn introducing a caveat to that support. However, no direct source citing Estonia by name for the June 28–29 strikes specifically was found in the available reporting.