According to local officials, Ukrainian air defence successfully shot down more than 30 Russian cruise missiles and drones in Moscow’s sixth consecutive air attack on Kyiv. The Ukrainian capital was targeted simultaneously from various directions by Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles originating from the Caspian region, as reported by senior Kyiv official Serhii Popko on Telegram.
During the attack, a 68-year-old man and an 11-year-old child sustained injuries. Private houses, outbuildings, and cars suffered damage from falling debris, as confirmed by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office. These recent assaults on the capital have not only caused distress among residents but have also posed a significant challenge to Ukraine’s air defence capabilities. Meanwhile, Kyiv officials are strategizing for an upcoming counteroffensive to repel the forces of the Kremlin, 15 months after their full-scale invasion.
In the previous month alone, Kyiv experienced drone and missile attacks on 17 different days, including incidents that occurred during daylight hours.
Moscow’s strategy could backfire, however, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
The air campaign aims to “degrade Ukrainian counteroffensive capabilities. But the Russian prioritization of Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign’s ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions,” it said in an assessment late Thursday.
Ukrainian air defence intercepted all 15 cruise missiles and 21 attack drones, Ukraine’s chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said.
Meanwhile, border regions of Russia once again came under fire from Ukraine. Recent cross-border raids have also rattled those regions of Russia and put the Kremlin on guard.
That could be a Ukrainian strategy to disperse Russian forces before a counteroffensive begins.
“Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to (strengthen) defences in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence said Friday.
Air defence systems shot down “several Ukrainian drones” overnight Thursday in Russia’s southern Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, regional Gov. Roman Starovoit wrote on Telegram.
In the neighbouring Bryansk region, which also borders Ukraine, regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said that Ukrainian forces shelled two villages on Friday morning. No casualties were reported.
Two drones also attacked energy facilities in Russia’s western Smolensk region, which borders Belarus, in the early hours of Friday, officials said.
