Days after an unexpected Ukraine military operation started in the Kursk border area of Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy indirectly confirmed the ongoing offensive in his Saturday night speech, saying the intent was to “force the conflict into the offender’s land”.
On the evening leading into Sunday, a Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv resulted in the demise of two individuals – a father and his little boy aged four.
The governor of Kursk region in Russia reported that a Ukrainian missile, intercepted and destroyed by Russian air defense, crashed into a residential property, causing injuries to 13 residents.
Russia had launched an assault on Ukraine with four ballistic missiles and 57 Shahed drones, as stated by Ukraine’s air force, from which 53 drones were taken down by their air defenses.
Bodies of a man in his mid-thirties and his young son were discovered beneath the debris after missile parts crashed in a suburban housing area in Brovary district of Kyiv, as reported by Ukraine’s emergency services on Sunday. The attack also caused harm to another three people in the vicinity.
The Kyiv City Military Administration Chief, Serhii Popko, explained that it was the second time this month that such an attack targeted Kyiv. He outlined the damage to the outskirts of the city as ballistic missiles didn’t reach the city center, while drones aimed at the capital were intercepted and destroyed.
President Zelenskiy referred to provisional data suggesting that Russia had deployed a North Korean missile for the strike. It has been previously noted by the US and Ukraine that Russia has been using North Korean missiles in this conflict.
Repeating his appeals to western partners, Zelenskiy stressed the need for further aid to Ukraine and for strong decisions on their part to ease limitations on Ukraine’s defensive measures, along with providing a fully active air shield to safeguard their cities and towns to counter effectively the Russian threat.
In the meantime, Ukraine’s encroachment against Russia stretched on for a sixth consecutive day. Being the most significant attack since the full-blown invasion and also unusual due to the utilization of Ukrainian military units on Russian territory, it rendered Moscow unprepared and it was a source of disgrace to the Russian military top brass who are desperate to manage the situation.
Uncertainty surrounds the specific objectives of an undisclosed campaign led by Ukraine, a strategy potentially designed to safeguard its success. Military analysts speculate that this manoeuvre might be designed to divert Russian reserves embroiled in the fierce conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk area. Simultaneously, a presidential consultant insinuated that this course of action could bolster Kyiv’s position in potential future discussions with Russia.
Maria Zakharova, the foreign affairs spokesperson for Russia, voiced her understanding on Sunday that Ukraine was fully aware that recent sieges held no real military advantage. She alluded to Kyiv’s ongoing acts of terror, seemingly aimed solely at terrorising Russia’s civilian populace.
Aleksei Smirnov, the acting governor of Kursk, reported on Sunday that a “Ukrainian surveillance and sabotage group” infiltrated the Belovsky district the day before. Despite this admission, he insisted the situation was under control.
The Russian defence ministry disclosed that 35 drones had been intercepted during the previous night over a variety of regions, including Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk, and Oryol. Ukraine has remained silent on these Sunday drone assaults within Russian territory. This coincides with an uptick in similar drone strikes by Ukraine, primarily targeting military infrastructure and oil storage facilities.
In related news, Belarus revealed plans on Saturday to dispatch more military forces to its shared border with Ukraine. The decision came in response to Ukrainian drones breaching its airspace as part of Kyiv’s military infiltration of Russia’s Kursk region.
President Alexander Lukashenko disclosed that Belarusian anti-aircraft defences neutralised numerous targets originating from Ukraine over the Mogilev region, neighbouring Russia, on Friday evening. During a Saturday meeting in Minsk, Lukashenko expressed concern over the Ukrainian military’s airspace violation, stating it was a clear provocation. Viktor Khrenin, the Belarusian defence minister, underscored that his nation was prepared for direct countermeasures. (AP)