Russia launched a barrage of drone and missile attacks at Ukraine overnight, aiming as far west as Lviv (just 70 kilometers from the Polish border), while Kyiv continues its attempts to claw back its territory from Moscow’s forces.
“In total, the occupiers used 35 attack drones. Air defense managed to destroy 32 of them,” the Ukrainian armed forces said, adding the drones were Iranian-made.
Russia’s attacks focused on the Kyiv region, and also hit the western city of Lviv, close to the Polish border, the Ukrainian military said, while the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was targeted with ballistic missiles.
“Our air defense forces and assets detected and destroyed about two dozen enemy targets in the airspace around Kyiv,” said Serhiy Popko, head of the capital’s military administration. “No information on casualties or damage has been received so far.”
No casualties were reported in Lviv, where a “critical facility” was hit, Lviv region Governor Maksym Kozytskyy said.
Closer to the front line, Zaporizhzhia and the surrounding towns were hit with missiles and rockets, said Yuriy Malashko, head of the Zaporizhzhia military administration.
The attacks come soon after Kyiv launched a long-awaited counteroffensive to retake some of its territory lost to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian forces have made some progress in the country’s south and east, regaining eight villages.
In an update posted on Telegram overnight, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said battles were heating up in the east and south, but struck a defiant tone about Kyiv’s counteroffensive, saying “the biggest blow is yet to come.”
Source : POLITICO