Russia Strikes Kyiv, Ukrainian Prez Says ‘Russian Forces Are Being Destroyed’

Russian forces struck military and infrastructure targets in Ukraine’s Kyiv and other parts of the country on Tuesday. The attacks also targeted western areas which were far from the front lines, said a Ukrainian official. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the air defences of his nation for downing more than 30 drones and said that Ukrainian forces were destroying the Russians in the two main theatres of the conflict viz. the east and south, reported news agency Reuters. Zelenskyy’s office said that drones attacked Kyiv in several waves over the period of four hours.

His commander of land forces and the deputy defence minister reported successes with a counteroffensive in both regions.

Russian Defence Ministry said that their forces destroyed eight ammunition warehouses across the Ukrainian territory in the last 24 hours. It added that the Russian forces had also successfully repelled Ukrainian attacks in three areas. The Ministry continued by saying that the Ukrainian forces had tried to attack the Russian-held eastern city of Donetsk and the southern Zaporizhzhia region, but they were repelled.

Ukrainian forces also attacked the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region on Tuesday with drones which led to the death of a woman and left four civilians injured, Reuters cited local Russian-appointed authorities as saying.

Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces struck the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with drones, killing a woman and wounding four civilians, local Russian-appointed authorities said.

Kyiv claims to have recaptured 113 square kilometres of land and eight settlements from the Russian forces. However, the recent strikes proved that Russia is capable of waging wars beyond the front lines as well. 

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian forces “in the south and east are actively destroying the enemy, physically cleansing Ukraine. A defence against terror means destroying terrorists. And it is a guarantee that the state of evil will never have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s commander of land forces, General Oleksander Syrskyi via Telegram said that his troops were making progress on the flanks of the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut, which the Russians took control of last month after months of fighting. Reuters cited him as saying that the Ukrainian forces have been repelling increasingly intense attacks near Kupiansk in the northeast.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar while talking about the territorial advancements said that the Ukrainian forces in the south were “gradually, in small steps, but very confidently, making advances. We could even use the allegory that we are carving up every metre of land from the enemy.” She added that the Russian forces had mined vast areas, including towns.