In the early hours of Tuesday, Russian missiles targeted the capital city of Kyiv and several other cities, causing significant damage to critical infrastructure in Lviv, located in the west of Ukraine.
The attacks on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia in the south were reported as massive in scale.
Ukraine’s air force reported that they successfully intercepted and shot down all but three of the 35 drones that were launched during the attack.
Fortunately, no casualties were reported in Lviv, although there were explosions heard in the city during the early morning hours. However, the head of the regional authority, Maksym Kozytskyi, stated that an important target was struck three times by Iranian Shaheed drones, resulting in a fire outbreak.
According to the Ukrainian air force, more than 20 drones were launched in waves from Russian territory in the north and from the coastal region of the Sea of Azov in the southeast, targeting the capital city. Kyiv authorities stated that this was the first such incident in 18 days.
In addition to the drone attacks, Zaporizhzhia was struck by a number of Iskander-M ballistic missiles, but thankfully no injuries were reported. Furthermore, three drones were shot down over the southern region of Mykolaiv, as confirmed by the governor.
It is worth noting that the Zaporizhzhia region has been a focal point of the Ukrainian military’s ongoing offensive to reclaim territory that was captured by Russia during its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said hours earlier that Ukrainian forces had recaptured the village of Piatykhatky as they try to break through Russia’s front line in the southern region. She said it was the eighth Ukrainian village to be recaptured in the past week. There has been no independent confirmation of the latest developments.
In his nightly TV address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that in some areas the military was moving forward while in others they were holding positions against Russian attack.
The defence minister said Ukraine’s push had advanced some 7km (4.3 miles) in two directions in Zaporizhzhia, towards the occupied southern cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk.
The exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said residents had seen Russian forces leave the Kherson region further west for the front line in Zaporizhzhia.
Melitopol and Berdyansk lie on a coastal route from Russia to Crimea seen as critical to the Russian military because the bridge over the Kerch Strait from Russia to occupied Crimea is largely avoided by supply lorries. A Russian MP said earlier this month that the bridge was not considered secure but the “land corridor” was operating normally.
Western intelligence officials say Russian troops have moved away from the front line in Kherson since areas around the Dnipro river were flooded after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed on 6 June.