Deadly bombings occurred on Wednesday in Ukraine and Russia, where Moscow was also for the 6e consecutive day the target of drones, while the war will enter its 19e month.
The Russian army continued its night strikes on Ukrainian soil, where three civilians were killed near Lyman, in the Donetsk region, according to local authorities.
In Romny, in the Sumy region, four people died in a drone attack that hit a school building, relief workers said.
In addition, Russia has once again targeted Ukraine’s Izmail port facilities on the Danube, the main route for Ukrainian agricultural exports since Moscow ended a grain deal in July. Grain silos and warehouses were damaged, according to the prosecution.
Repeated Russian strikes on Ukrainian sea and river ports destroyed “270,000 tons of grain” in one month, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Wednesday.
Finally, the Ukrainian army shot down nine “Shahed-136 / 131” drones from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov, the South Ukrainian Defense Forces reported on Telegram.
Sixth day
Russian soldiers, who occupy entire sections of eastern and southern Ukrainian territory, are facing a counter-offensive that is also affecting border regions.
Thus, an explosive device released by a drone caused the death of “three civilians” in Lavy, a village in the Russian region of Belgorod, wrote on Telegram Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
These devices, the shipment of which is attributed to kyiv, penetrate more and more often and ever deeper into Russia. If these devices are generally neutralized, without causing casualties or major damage, incidents are increasing. Thus, Moscow faced such drones for the sixth day in a row.
At dawn on Wednesday, a drone arrived in the center of the Russian capital before being “neutralized by means of electronic warfare” and hitting a building under construction in the business district of Moscow City, announced the Russian Defense Ministry.
At the edge of a skyscraper, a window appeared destroyed and the windows around blackened, noted an AFP photographer, while police cordoned off the perimeter.
Two other machines were destroyed, without the debris causing any casualties, by the anti-aircraft defense in Mozhaisk and Khimki, respectively 12 and some 20 kilometers from the center of Moscow, according to the Ministry of Defense.
And once again, air traffic at Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo international airports was briefly interrupted.
Russian border regions also regularly face armed incursions, attacks generally claimed by units of anti-Kremlin Russians committed to Ukraine. On Monday, the Briansk region was attacked, an assault repelled, assured the Russian security services (FSB).
Weak Ukrainian advances
These attacks, which targeted Russian soil, took place in the midst of the Ukrainian counter-offensive to liberate the occupied regions.
Senior Ukrainian officials stress that it is a long, complex and deadly operation, with territorial gains having been limited since June and criticism being heard, particularly among Westerners, about the lack of progress.
Ukraine is asking its Western allies for even more military help to be able to successfully break through enemy lines, as Russian troops have built up a strong defense, particularly with anti-tank booby traps and minefields.
After a mini-tour of Europe during which he obtained the promise of the delivery in the coming months of F-16 fighter jets, President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed another ally to Kiev, the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo , whose country, a neighbor of Russia, joined NATO after the invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin, for his part, attended a BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) by videoconference, which he was unable to attend, being the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. .
Once again, at a time when the invasion he ordered will enter its 19e months, the Russian president on Tuesday blamed the West, judging that Americans and Europeans started it by supporting a pro-Western revolution in 2014.
“Our actions in Ukraine are dictated by one thing: the desire to end the war unleashed by the West and its satellites in Ukraine,” he said.
