A widespread blackout hit Bryansk overnight after what Russian officials described as a barrage of Ukrainian Neptune missiles. While Russia’s air defenses allegedly intercepted the missiles, a power substation was still damaged. Videos from the scene show a darkened city that lost electricity in the early hours of February 4, similar to Belgorod.
On the morning of February 4, Bryansk region governor Alexander Bogomaz said on his Telegram channel that the shutdown of the regional capital was caused by a mass strike involving Ukrainian Neptune missiles, as well as HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and rocket-powered drones. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it had shot down all aerial targets.
Bogomaz’s post appeared around 9 a.m. on February 4. He reported incidents in the village of Glinishchevo (17 km from Bryansk) and in Bryansk’s Bezhitsky district, citing some damage to homes and injuries. He did not mention the blackout that struck the city, located about 130 km from Ukraine.
At the same time, the monitoring channel Exilnova+ reported an emergency situation in Bryansk. Footage from the scene shows a citywide outage. The post went up at 1:38 a.m. on February 4 and said the event occurred in Bryansk, about two hours after the blackout in Belgorod.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not report a Neptune missile impact on Bryansk. Instead, it said that overnight on February 4 its forces downed 24 Ukrainian drones, 11 of which were headed for Bryansk and eight for Belgorod. In previous updates, the ministry has referenced Neptune strikes; in January, its Telegram channel mentioned the missile system eight times, citing a total of 25 missiles. There had been no such statements in February.
Ukraine’s General Staff has not confirmed the use of Neptune missiles against military targets inside Russia.
In November 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Neptune missile had successfully hit a target at a distance of around 1,000 km. In December, he touted the effectiveness of Flamingo cruise missiles and said Neptune strikes had been “very good.”
On January 25, residents of Russia’s Belgorod region reported a mass strike by HIMARS rockets. In December 2025, an aviation expert analyzed the feasibility of a mass Ukrainian drone raid on Moscow and the challenges of scaling up production of Neptune missiles.
