RUSSIA BOMBARDS UKRAINE IN EARLY MORNING AERIAL ATTACKS
▶ Kyiv says most missiles were shot down, as Moscow prepares to launch counter-offensive
Russia launched a series of pre-dawn missile and artillery strikes on Ukraine yesterday in a renewal of aerial attacks on its neighbour.
One person was killed in the Kherson area, while 34 were injured in Dnipropetrovsk.
Ukrainian air defence crews shot down 15 out of 18 cruise missiles that were fired from planes, officials said.
“Around 2.30am (3.30am UAE), the Russian invaders attacked Ukraine from strategic aviation planes,” said a post on the Telegram channel of Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Shelling wounded 25 people in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in central Ukraine, and dozens of buildings were damaged in the city of Pavlohrad, the regional administration said.
The southern region of Kherson was also hit – including by drones and Grad rockets.
“Over the past day, the enemy carried out 39 shellings, firing 163 shells from heavy artillery, Grads, UAVs and aviation. The enemy shelled the city of Kherson eight times,” said Oleksandr Prokudin of the military administration for Kherson.
“As a result of Russian aggression, one person died and three others, including a child, were injured.”
Kyiv city officials said all missiles aimed at the capital were destroyed in the second attack in three days.
Russia says recent strikes are designed to hamper Kyiv’s plans for a long-intended counter-offensive in the east.
On Friday, at least 23 people were killed after Russian missiles hit residential targets in the central city of Uman.
Most died when two missiles slammed into an apartment building. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said six children were among the dead.
Meanwhile, an explosion in a Russian region bordering Ukraine derailed a freight train yesterday, the local governor said on social media. There were no casualties, he said.
Social media pictures showed several carriages on their side and dark grey smoke billowing into the air at the site of the derailment in the Bryansk region.
National operator Russian Railways said the train left the tracks at 10.17am Moscow time (11.17am UAE time). It said seven freight wagons derailed and the train went on fire.
“An unidentified explosive device went off at the 136km mark on the Bryansk-Unecha railway line, derailing a freight train,” Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said in a post on his Telegram channel.
Russian authorities say the region – which also borders Belarus – has been attacked several times by pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups in the past 14 months. On Saturday, Mr Bogomaz said four civilians were killed after Ukraine shelled a village about 60km north of Russia’s border with Ukraine.
Elsewhere, a Ukrainian general claimed his troops drove out Russian forces from positions in the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut, but were still encountering problems.
“The situation is quite difficult,” said Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of ground forces.
He made the remarks while visiting frontline troops on Sunday, the military said.
He said new Russian units, including paratroopers and fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, were being “constantly thrown into battle” despite taking heavy losses. “But the enemy is unable to take control of the city,” he added.
Russian forces have made incremental gains in Bakhmut. However, a Ukrainian military spokesman on Sunday said it was still possible to supply the defenders with food, ammunition and medicine.
Ukraine yesterday said its forces had repelled more than 36 enemy attacks on the eastern front line between Bakhmut and Maryinka, west of Donetsk.