Ukraine unleashes strikes on bridges in occupied areas

The Ukrainian air force said on Sunday it shot down 30 out of the 40 cruise missiles and all Shahed drones launched by Russia.

Steeplejacks install the Ukrainian coat of arms, also known as the tryzub, replacing those of the former Soviet Union on the Motherland Monument in Kyiv. Picture: AFP

Russia carried out several waves of attacks on Ukraine overnight, while Kyiv hit bridges in occupied territories on Sunday.

The Ukrainian air force said on Sunday it shot down 30 out of the 40 cruise missiles and all Shahed drones launched by Russia. “In total, the enemy used 70 air attack weapons in several waves” in the night from Saturday to Sunday, it said.

It added that Russia had launched three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles but did not say if they had been destroyed.

The Ukrainian armed forces did not specify which sites were hit by the missiles that got through air defences.

The Russian army, however, said it had struck “Ukrainian armed forces airbases around the settlements of Starokostiantyniv in the Khmelnytskyi region and Dubno in the Rivne region”.

Home to a major airbase, the western Khmelnytskyi region, located hundreds of kilometres from the front lines of the fighting, has been repeatedly targeted during the war.

“Since yesterday evening, the Khmelnytskyi region has been attacked three times ... most missiles were shot down,” said local official Sergiy Tyurin.

Several buildings and the bus station were damaged, he said on Telegram. He also posted pictures of a crumbling building engulfed in flames, saying a corn waste warehouse had caught fire.

Meanwhile, in the Rivne region that Russia said it hit, “only a few private households were damaged”, according to regional head Vitaliy Koval.

On Saturday, Ukraine said Russian forces had struck a blood transfusion centre in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were dead and wounded from the attack.

The reported strike came shortly after Mr Zelensky said Russian missiles had hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, one of several companies requisitioned by the government since Moscow’s invasion.

Russian air defences were also at work on Sunday, as Ukraine targeted two bridges on occupied territory.

“The enemy launched a missile attack near the Chongar bridge” that connects southern Ukraine to the annexed Crimean peninsula, Moscow-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.

“One hit, some missiles were shot down,” Mr Aksyonov said.

A separate attack on a bridge near Genichesk, in southern Kherson, wounded a civilian and damaged a gas pipeline, cutting supplies for about 20,000 residents.

Russian air defence said it had also shot down a drone approaching the Russian capital. There have been an increased number of drone attacks not only on regions bordering Ukraine, but also on Moscow. A Ukrainian drone hit a Russian oil tanker south of the Kerch Strait on Friday night.

Attacks have multiplied on both sides of the Black Sea since Russia exited a deal – brokered by the UN and Turkey – protecting grain exports. Russia has hit port infrastructure on the Black Sea and Danube, while Ukraine has targeted Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

AFP