Russia said it repelled a Ukrainian attack on the border region of Belgorod, as a new wave of drones hit kyiv early on Friday, with no casualties, according to its mayor Vitali Klitschko.
“Explosions in Kiev, new wave of drones during a nationwide air alert from 03:23 to 04:23 local time (00:23 to 01:23 GMT), no casualties have been reported at this stage,” Vitali Klitschko announced on Telegram.
“Tonight the enemy used 15 cruise missiles (type to be specified) and 18 Iranian ‘Shahed’ attack drones for strikes – all of these aerial targets were destroyed by our defenders,” he said on Friday. the Ukrainian army in a statement on Facebook.
“During the past day, the enemy launched 12 missile strikes using ten “Iskander” type ballistic and cruise missiles on Kiev (destroyed by our defenders) and two S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles on Kharkiv”, she clarified.
The day before, the Russian authorities had claimed that the Ukrainian forces had tried to “invade” the border region of Belgorod and carried out heavy strikes which left a dozen injured.
Intensely bombarded for several days, the Russian region of Belgorod was the scene last week of a spectacular incursion by armed men from Ukraine, which raised questions about the solidity of the defense of the Russian border.
Intensely bombarded for several days, the Russian region of Belgorod was the scene last week of a spectacular incursion by armed men from Ukraine, which raised questions about the solidity of the defense of the Russian border.
“Up to two companies of motorized infantry reinforced by tanks”, tried to “invade Russian territory” Thursday around 03:00 am (00:00 GMT), said the Russian Ministry of Defense, according to which “until to 70″ armed men “took part in the attack”.
The attack was preceded by the “bombardment of civilian installations”, then “three attacks carried out by Ukrainian terrorist groups were repelled” by the Russian military, supported by the air force which carried out 11 strikes and the artillery which completed 79, he continued.
“In total, more than 50 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored fighting vehicles, a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher vehicle, a pickup truck were eliminated,” he said in the evening.
A group calling itself the “Russian Volunteer Corps”, which says it is made up of Russian fighters supporting Kiev and which claimed a role in the incursion into Belgorod last week, however assured Thursday afternoon that it was delivering fighting on Russian territory near Chebekino.
It was impossible to independently verify these claims.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, for his part reported on Telegram that the fall of a drone on the city of Belgorod itself had “injured two”.
Another locality targeted according to the Russian authorities, that of the border of Chebekino, 40,000 inhabitants, located about ten kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
According to Mr. Gladkov, Ukrainian “uninterrupted strikes” targeted it, including the Grad multiple rocket launcher, which was very destructive, damaging several buildings and injuring twelve.
“The building of a home hit by the shells is in flames, that of the (local) administration has also suffered damage”, assured Mr. Gladkov, adding that this city had no more electricity.
The Kremlin for its part denounced the lack of international condemnation of these attacks.
“Still not a single word that would criticize or condemn the Kiev regime for this,” accused Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
According to Mr. Gladkov, the village of Novopetrovka, also located in the Belgorod region, was also hit by strikes in which two teachers from a local school were injured.
Faced with this situation, the inhabitants of the bombarded areas fled and were received in temporary reception centres.
“The largest municipal temporary accommodation center is gradually filling up, so all arrivals from Chebekino are being sent in an organized fashion to other unoccupied centers,” Gladkov said.
The situation in the Belgorod region, subject to these strikes and clashes, is the most serious described in Russia since February 2022. And this at a time when Ukraine says it has been preparing a major counter-offensive for months.
On Wednesday, the Russian authorities had already started to evacuate children from particularly affected areas in this region.
Moscow suffered an unprecedented drone attack on Tuesday, which caused two minor injuries and minor damage, authorities said.
Early on Friday, several Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defense near Kursk, a town near the border with Ukraine, according to a post by regional governor Roman Starovoyt on Telegram, who asked residents to ” stay calm”.
The Kursk region has been, since February 2022, regularly bombarded by Ukrainian forces.
02/06/2023 07:09:29 – Moscow (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
