Russian drones strike Ukraine’s Kyiv region: officials
Russia has used explosive drones to conduct new attacks on areas around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, officials have said. It is reported by Upmp.news with reference to “Polskie Radio”.
The strikes took place in the early hours of Thursday morning, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Regional governor Oleksii Kuleba announced on the Telegram messenger service that one of the municipalities in the Kyiv region “has been struck,” the Ukrainska Pravda website reported.
“Early reports indicate kamikaze drones were deployed to carry out the attack,” Kuleba said, as cited by the Ukrainska Pravda website.
“Rescue workers are at the impact site,” the governor added, urging residents to “remain in shelters until an all-clear has sounded.”
“Do not disclose the impact site and do not share photos or videos [of the attack and its effects] on social media,” he appealed.
Critical infrastructure facilities in the region were hit by drones, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s office, the Reuters news agency reported.
Mykolaiv ‘massively shelled’
Meanwhile, the southern city of Mykolaiv was also under attack on Thursday morning, the PAP news agency reported.
The port city’s Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said in a social media post that Mykolaiv was “massively shelled,” according to Reuters.
“A five-storey residential building was hit, the two upper floors were completely destroyed, the rest – under rubble. Rescuers are working on the site,” Senkevich wrote, as cited by Reuters.
Over 40 Ukrainian settlements hit, 26 people dead
In all, Russian forces have launched three rocket attacks, 21 air strikes and 104 attacks from multiple-rocket systems over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Thursday.
As a result, Russian missiles hit more than 40 settlements, notably in the districts of Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkas, Chernyakhiv, Bilohorivka, Spirne, Pavlivka, Myrne and Davydiv Brid, Ukraine’s military command said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force carried out 32 strikes on 25 Russian targets in the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s General Staff said, according to Reuters.
Since Monday, Russian missiles have killed at least 26 people across Ukraine, according to officials, The Economist reported.
Ukraine continues counteroffensive
As Russian missile strikes continued to hit civilian targets and critical infrastructure across Ukraine, there were reports that Kyiv’s forces pressed on with their counteroffensive in the east and south of the country, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reported.
In its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine, published on Wednesday night, the ISW said: “Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensive operations toward Svatove and Kreminna” in the eastern Luhansk region.
Meanwhile, Russian forces were continuing defensive operations in the area, according to the US think tank.
Moreover, “Russian sources continued to claim that Ukrainian forces are conducting ground attacks in northwestern and western Kherson Oblast [in southern Ukraine],” the ISW wrote.
“Ukrainian military officials confirmed that Ukrainian troops liberated five settlements in northern Kherson Oblast and otherwise maintained operational silence regarding specific Ukrainian ground manoeuvres in this area on October 12,” the US experts said.
They added that the five retaken settlements were Novovasylivka, Novohryhorivka, Nova Kamianka, Trifonivka, and Chervone.
“Ukrainian military officials also noted that Ukrainian troops are continuing their interdiction campaign to target Russian concentration areas and military assets in Kherson Oblast to support ongoing ground manoeuvres,” the ISW said.
Russian troops lack ‘basic personal equipment’
Meanwhile, Russian forces conducted ground attacks around Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region, while also “reinforcing the frontline in western Zaporizhia Oblast,” according to the US think tank.
However, the Russian military “continues to face problems equipping individual Russian soldiers with basic personal equipment,” the ISW reported.
Thursday is day 232 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, understandingwar.org, pravda.com.ua, facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua, economist.com