The hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky was hit on the night of June 14-15 by three missiles sent by Russia. Ukraine, on the other hand, announced that it had shot down a cruise missile and 20 Russian explosive drones. According to information from the Ukrainian Air Force, the 20 drones launched from the North and South as well as one of the four cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea were intercepted.
Three other missiles hit “industrial facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region” in the center-east of the country, she added on Telegram. According to local authorities, it is Kryvyï Rig, birthplace of President Volodymyr Zelensky, where a previous Russian strike on Tuesday left 12 dead, including hitting an apartment building and a warehouse.
“Three missiles hit two industrial enterprises that have nothing to do with the army,” the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandre Vilkoul, said on Telegram. A 38-year-old man was injured and hospitalized, but his life is not in danger, he added. In the Zaporizhia region (south), 17 localities came under Russian bombardment which killed a 58-year-old woman in a village, the regional administration said on Telegram on Thursday.
The city of Kharkiv (northeast) and the Odessa region (south) were also attacked during the night by Russian drones, which were all shot down, according to the respective local authorities. Earlier in the day, the governor installed by Moscow in the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014, said that Russian forces had shot down nine Ukrainian drones on its territory, which caused no casualties.
A drone, however, hit a village in the center of the peninsula, breaking the windows of several houses. Drone attacks in Crimea, whose annexation by Moscow has not been recognized by the international community, and on Russian territory have increased in recent weeks as Ukraine has begun a counter-offensive on the front.
This counter-offensive is intended to push back the Russian forces from the areas they occupy in the South and East. Ukrainian authorities have indicated that they intend to retake all territories, including Crimea and areas under the control of pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Ukraine claimed limited gains by announcing the capture of a handful of villages, after more a week of fighting.
Russia for its part said to hold the forces of kyiv in check and multiplied the night strikes against large Ukrainian cities.