Russia announced on Wednesday that it had shot down two Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow, a type of attack that has multiplied in recent weeks, while promising an “adequate response” to Western support in Kiev.
A Russian village near the Ukrainian border was hit by shelling which left one dead and four injured among the population, at a time when Russian territory is increasingly the target of strikes and attacks. other attacks.
In Ukraine, at least two people were killed and seven others injured in a Russian strike on Zaporizhia, a large southern city, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko announced in the evening. President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously reported three deaths, but one of the victims was able to be revived, authorities said.
According to regional governor Yuri Malachko, “a church and shops” were hit.
The Russian Defense Ministry said early in the morning that an “attempted attack using unmanned aerial vehicles” had been foiled over the capital region, which had already been attacked several times during the week. past.
“Air defense destroyed two drones,” the ministry added on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties or damage.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said one of the bombs was shot down in the Domodedovo area, where a major international airport is located, and the other near a major highway leading west.
The two drones, he said, were headed for Moscow, where previous attacks have twice damaged an office building in the city’s main business district.
Ukrainian-initiated drone strikes also occur regularly in other Russian regions and in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Naval drones have also targeted Russian ships on several occasions in recent weeks, including including a tanker on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed at the end of July that “war is coming to Russian territory”.
In the Russian region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, the village of Gorkovsky was hit by shells, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladfkov.
According to him, “five shells exploded in the center of the village, near the school”, killing a man and injuring four other inhabitants of this village located just two kilometers from the border.
If they have long been limited, Ukrainian attacks in border areas have also been increasingly frequent in recent months.
An explosion in a factory in Sergiev Posad, near Moscow, left one dead and around 50 injured, including five seriously, without the accident appearing to be linked to the conflict in Ukraine, according to regional authorities.
“An injured person died of her injuries,” said the administration of this city, which is home to an important Orthodox monastery, on its Telegram account.
Earlier, Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov announced that “56 people received medical assistance and 30 of them are currently hospitalized.”
The explosion occurred in a warehouse of pyrotechnic materials rented by a private company on the territory of a factory.
In Ukraine, an 18-year-old man was killed in a Russian strike on the Nikopol region and one person was injured in the Kherson region, both in the south, the local administration said.
In territories under Moscow’s control, Russian-installed authorities report the death of three people and 11 injuries in Ukrainian bombardments on Donetsk, a stronghold of pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine .
As part of its counter-offensive, which has so far only succeeded in retaking a handful of villages, the Ukrainian army said on Wednesday that it was meeting with “partial success” in certain sectors, while Russian troops are still under attack near Kupiansk, in the northeast.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, for his part, in a speech to army officials, spoke of the “multiplication” of “threats to military security” at Russian borders, mentioning the “indirect war” of Westerners against Russia via Ukraine.
“These threats (…) require a rapid and adequate response. We will discuss the necessary measures to neutralize them and take the appropriate decisions,” he said.
08/09/2023 20:59:59 – Moscow (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
