Kyiv: In Moscow's sixth aerial assault on Kyiv in as many days, Ukrainian air defences downed more than 30 Russian cruise missiles and drones, according to local authorities on Friday.
According to senior Kyiv official Serhii Popko on Telegram, Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea simultaneously attacked the Ukrainian capital from various directions.
According to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office, the attack left a 68-year-old man and an 11-year-old child injured, and falling debris also caused damage to homes, outbuildings, and cars.
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Residents have been under stress as a result of a recent rash of attacks on the capital, which have also put the Ukraine's air defences to the test, as Kyiv officials prepare what they claim will be a forthcoming counteroffensive to drive back the Kremlin's forces 15 months after their full-scale invasion. On 17 days last month, including daytime attacks, Kyiv was the target of drone and missile attacks.
However, a Washington-based think tank called the Institute for the Study of War warns that Moscow's plan could go awry.
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The air campaign's goal is to "degrade Ukrainian counteroffensive capabilities, but... the Russian prioritisation of Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign's ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions," it said in an assessment late Thursday.
According to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the chief of staff of Ukraine, all 15 cruise missiles and 21 attack drones were shot down by Ukrainian air defences. Meanwhile, Ukraine once more launched attacks on Russian border regions. These regions of Russia have also been alarmed by recent cross-border raids, which has the Kremlin on high alert.
That might be a Ukrainian tactic to scatter Russian forces ahead of the start of a counteroffensive.
The decision of whether to (strengthen) defences in Russia's border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine presents Russian commanders with a serious dilemma, the UK ministry of defence said on Friday.
According to regional governor Roman Starovoit on Telegram, air defence systems in Russia's southern Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, shot down "several Ukrainian drones" overnight on Thursday.
Ukrainian forces shelled two villages on Friday morning, according to regional governor Alexander Bogomaz of the neighbouring Bryansk region, which also borders Ukraine. There were no casualties reported.
In the early hours of Friday, two drones reportedly also attacked energy facilities in western Russia's Smolensk region, which borders Belarus.
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Russian officials claim that attacks from northern Ukraine have increased, and that on Thursday, for the first time, Ukrainian troops tried to cross into the Belgorod region.
Over 2,500 people were being evacuated from the Shebekino district, according to Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said on Friday that at least one incident of shelling had been reported over the course of the previous night.
The incursions, according to Ukraine, are carried out by Russian volunteer fighters, not its military