At that time, the Kyiv and Odesa regions experienced the main blows of Moscow’s latest attacks.
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The air war between Russia and Ukraine has intensified as Moscow’s invasion of the neighboring country continues into its fifth year. The front in Eastern and Southern Ukraine remains essentially stalemated, and U.S. efforts to negotiate a deal have yet to open the way to peace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exchanged threats late Tuesday about what their next steps might be.
Zelensky warned foreign airlines that the sky over Russia is not safe for flights due to Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks, stating that “Russian airspace de facto will be closed.” According to him, this military pressure aims to force Russia to agree to peace talks.
Putin accused Zelensky of “state terrorism” and declared: “We do not negotiate with terrorists.”
Putin’s comments received a sharp response from Ukraine’s anti-disinformation center – a government agency. The center stated that these remarks are a clear attempt by the Russian leader to shift blame away from Moscow.
“The state that itself started this war, which daily terrorizes Ukrainian civilians and destroys cities, is again trying to portray itself as the ‘victim’,” the statement said.
Russian Transport Minister Andrey Nikitin dismissed any travel concerns, saying that authorities are continuously strengthening flight safety.
“We will not allow any significant disruptions to civil aviation,” he told reporters. His words were quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax.
At a late evening press conference on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin also commented on reports that the Ukrainian military used UK-made drones to strike targets on Russian territory.
When asked if Russia would strike UK military facilities if the UK government continued supplying weapons to Ukraine, Putin refused to deny it. Smiling, he told journalists that it is a “military secret.”
Meanwhile, China and North Korea provide military support to Russia, as did Iran in previous years.
Comments from Russian and Ukrainian leaders came as European officials considered their response to what they say is Moscow’s latest campaign of sabotage and disruption in the Old Continent aimed at weakening support for Ukraine. Germany on Tuesday accused Russia of attempting a drone attack with explosives at Leipzig and Halle airports last month.
Russian strikes in Dnipro killed two people, hit a food warehouse
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, last night Russia launched 174 attack drones into Ukraine, about half of which were jet-powered, hard-to-stop drones increasingly used by Moscow, as well as two ballistic and two air-launched missiles.
Local officials reported that a man and a woman were killed in Russian strikes in Dnipro.
Oleksandr Hanža, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said the attack hit food warehouses belonging to the Dnipro retail network, injuring at least six people.
Recently, Moscow forces have also targeted other food warehouses, causing some supermarket shelves to empty. Russian forces target civilian facilities, and Ukrainian officials say this aims to disrupt daily life and break society.
“Unfortunately, the world’s and its most influential leaders’ reaction to this latest escalation of Russian strikes has been far too little,” Zelensky said on social media Wednesday. “Every partner knows what is needed: air defense for Ukraine, sanctions on Russia, and a significant increase in defense production.”
Officials in the southern Ukrainian Odesa region reported that a 24-story residential building was damaged in a Russian attack, with apartments destroyed on several floors and eight people injured, including a child.
According to Tymur Tkachenka, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, a man and a woman were injured by shrapnel during morning attacks in the Kyiv region.
In Kyiv, a drone crashed into a six-story apartment building, partially destroying it and damaging a medical facility, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on the Telegram platform Wednesday.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district, a six-story residential building caught fire due to a drone strike, and parts of a medical facility were damaged – some windows were broken, the mayor said.
According to him, seven people were injured, five of whom were hospitalized by medics.
This is the seventh consecutive day Kyiv has been attacked, although the latest strike was not as strong as in previous days.
Russia says two people killed, 16 injured in Ukrainian drone attacks
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that the country’s air defense destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones last night. It was reported that drones were shot down over 11 Russian regions, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea.
Two people were killed and 16 injured in Ukraine’s drone attacks in Russia’s Belgorod region, interim governor Aleksandr Shuvayev reported. According to him, Ukrainian forces struck the region 140 times in 24 hours.
Long-range drones developed in Ukraine have repeatedly targeted Russia’s oil sector, hoping to damage its economy, as well as online store warehouses, aiming to make Russian society feel the effects of the war.
Western analysts and officials say Russian military efforts to advance deeper into Ukraine have lost momentum.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported late Tuesday that Russia’s August advances were only a “fraction” of what Moscow achieved in the same month last year.
The Washington-based think tank said Russia failed to break through Ukraine’s frontline defenses during its spring and summer offensive.
“Russian gains remain slow and limited,” the report said.
