Ukraine’s military said it shot down two of Russia’s most advanced missiles over Kyiv and struck a large oil facility in occupied Crimea on Monday, as a Russian air strike on the southeastern city of Kherson injured at least 20 civilians.
Explosions reverberated over central Kyiv during the morning rush hour in what officials said was the successful interception of two powerful Kinzhal missiles, debris from which then fell over several districts of the capital, causing minor damage and a fire but no casualties. The Kremlin has lauded the Kinzhal (“Dagger”) as unstoppable, but Ukraine has shot down several with US-supplied Patriot systems.
Kyiv said a third Kinzhal was not stopped and struck “the area of the Starokostiantyniv airfield” in the western Khmelnytskyi region, which as one of Ukraine’s main air bases is a potential home for the US-built F-16 fighter jets that are slowly being delivered by several European states.
Ukraine did not say what, if anything, had been damaged in the strike, which came during a visit to the country by Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans, who confirmed that the Netherlands had begun delivering 24 F-16s to Kyiv.
“For the first time, I can officially announce that the first Dutch F-16s have been delivered to Ukraine,” he said in the country’s second city, Kharkiv, which faces daily bomb, drone and missile attacks from across the nearby Russian border.
“The rest of the 24 jets will follow in the coming months,” he added, noting that the Netherlands would also commit €400 million to developing drones jointly with Ukraine.
Ukraine said it shot down 32 explosive attack drones fired by Russia early on Monday and 37 others disappeared from radar, suggesting they had succumbed to electronic jamming.
At least 20 people were injured when Russia dropped four guided bombs on the centre of Kherson, including two children and several elderly residents of a city that sits just across the Dnipro river from occupied territory.
Moscow-installed officials in the city of Feodosia in Crimea announced a local-level state of emergency after fire erupted at a large oil facility, forcing the evacuation of several hundred residents and the closure of some roads and railway lines.
“The Feodosia [oil] terminal is the largest in Crimea in terms of transshipment of oil products, which were used, in particular, to meet the needs of the occupying army,” Ukraine’s military said on Monday. “The mission was carried out by units of the missile forces of the armed forces of Ukraine in co-operation with other elements of the defence forces of Ukraine. Measures to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian Federation continue.”
Russian officials did not say what caused the fire but claimed 12 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over Crimea.
Russian state media websites were heavily disrupted on Monday in what Kyiv officials said was an attack by Ukrainian hackers to coincide with the 72nd birthday of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the VGTRK media holding “has faced an unprecedented hacker attack on its digital infrastructure” and that staff were “making enormous efforts to overcome the consequences ... to clarify all the circumstances and understand ... who organised this hacker attack on critical infrastructure.”
A Moscow court sentenced US citizen Stephen James Hubbard (72) to six years and 10 months in jail for allegedly fighting for Ukraine, where he had lived since 2014.
Russian media say he confessed to the charge, but his relatives have cast doubt on that. Washington has accused Moscow of arresting its citizens on false pretences to use them in prisoner swaps.
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