A new and intense barrage of missiles fired by Russia flew over the Ukrainian sky on Wednesday night, but the anti-aircraft defense system and other mobile units of the Ukrainian army once again demonstrated their effectiveness by shooting down 29 of the 30 projectiles as well as the four drones launched. by Moscow. However, debris from an intercepted missile killed one person in the southern city of Odessa, the Ukrainian military announced Thursday.
Kyiv woke up with some columns of black smoke due to the ninth air attack on the capital this month, as a result of an intensification of the Russian air offensive. Falling debris from missiles hit by air defenses sparked fires in the eastern parts of the city, causing minor damage but no injuries or casualties.
Ukraine's military said the 30-missile barrage included cruise missiles fired from the sea, air and land, and that two Iranian-made Shahed suicide drones and two reconnaissance drones had been shot down. “All targets over Kyiv have been shot down,” General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, said in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging application.
In the port of Odessa, however, an unspecified industrial facility came under attack when a missile crashed to the ground after being hit by air defenses, killing one person and wounding two others.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has intensified airstrikes in recent weeks as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive aimed at retaking occupied territory.
The attack before the one last night occurred on Tuesday and was particularly strong, since, according to Kyiv, Ukraine managed to shoot down six Russian hypersonic missiles, called Kinzhal, although Moscow later denied having lost any of these projectiles that it has promoted as almost unstoppable. Russia, for its part, claimed it had destroyed a Patriot missile defense system courtesy of the United States, but Kyiv denied this.
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat wanted to allay fears by assuring that Kyiv was still using the Patriot system. “Therefore, I ask everyone to remain calm. The air defense is working and will continue to offer protection, ”he told Ukrainian television.
On the other hand, in the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, a freight train carrying grain derailed without causing casualties, according to Russian authorities, amid a wave of incidents and sabotage usually attributed by Moscow to Kyiv. In a statement, the local railways claimed the incident was the result of the actions of "third parties", a euphemism that seemed to refer to sabotage and a formulation previously used during derailments in early May in a Russian region bordering Ukraine. An official of the Russian parliament spoke of an explosion due to an explosive device.
The representative of the Directorate of Military Intelligence of Ukraine Andrii Yusov assured that there will be no peace on the peninsula as long as the Russian forces do not withdraw. "Weapons, ammunition, armored vehicles and other means used in the aggressive war against Ukraine are transported on these same roads, so it is natural that the roads will deteriorate and stop working for some time," Yusov told the service. national television news collected by the agency Ukrinform.
Yusov's statements follow the line usually followed by the Ukrainian authorities of neither claiming nor denying sabotage actions behind enemy lines and leaving open the possibility of Kyiv's responsibility.
