KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – The Russian military launched 45 drones over Ukraine Sunday in a five-and-a-half-hour strike, officials said, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued to reshuffle his war cabinet as the war entered its third year. .
In a statement, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 40 Iranian-made Shahed drones in nine different regions, including on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Kyiv.
The five-and-a-half-hour attack targeted agricultural facilities and coastal infrastructure, officials for Ukraine’s southern defense forces wrote on Telegram.
They said that the strike in Mykolaiv region had injured one person, sparked a fire and damaged nearby residential buildings.
Another person was injured in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region when a fire broke out from debris falling from a destroyed drone, the head of the region’s military administration, Serhiy Lysak, said.
The Russian military launched 45 drones over Ukraine Sunday in a five-and-a-half-hour barrage of strikes. AP
Border police in Moldova also said on Sunday that debris from a “Shahed-type drone” was found near the southern town of Etulia near the border with Ukraine, but that the debris did not pose a danger to nearby communities. “There is suspicion that the detected drone debris is one of the drones shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems,” the border police said in a statement, referring to an overnight attack launched on Friday by Russian forces in Ukraine’s Izmail region.
The distance between Etulia and Izmail is about 40 kilometers (25 miles) as the crow flies. Authorities said access to the impact site had been restricted. Moldovan President Maia Sandu responded to the incident by saying in a post on the social media platform X, that “Russia’s war on Ukraine is happening close to home in Moldova – again.” “The discovery of Shahed drone debris in southern Moldova today serves as another stark reminder of the grim reality we face,” he said. “Russia’s aggression endangers the entire continent. Support for Ukraine must continue.”
The attack comes as Zelenskyy continues a reshuffle of military commanders in an effort to maintain momentum against Russian military offensives.
Kyiv announced Sunday that former deputy defense minister Lt. General Alexander Pavlyuk will be the new commander of the Ukrainian ground forces.
The post was previously held by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was named Thursday as the successor to retiring Ukrainian army chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
The new presidential decree also named Yurii Sodol, former head of the Ukrainian marine corps, as the new commander of Ukraine’s coalition forces; Brig. General Ihor Skibiuk as the commander of the Ukrainian air strike force; and Maj. Gen. Ihor Plahuta as the commander of the Ukrainian territorial defense forces.
The nearly six-hour attack targeted agricultural facilities and coastal infrastructure. AP/Yevhen Titov
Incoming commander-in-chief Syrskyi has signaled that his immediate goals include increasing front-line troop rotation and leveraging new technological powers at a time when Kyiv’s military is largely on the defensive.
Starlink concerns
Ukraine’s military intelligence service said Sunday that invading Russian forces had been found to be using Starlink terminals to aid their attacks. It released what it said was a recording of an intercepted conversation between two Russian soldiers as evidence.
The Starlink terminal, which uses a series of satellites operated by Elon Musk’s company Space X to provide high-speed communications, is essential in giving the Ukrainian military an advantage over invading Russian forces.
Ukraine’s air force says it has shot down 40 Iranian-made Shahed drones in nine different regions. AP
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However, various reports of Russian troops using Starlink on the front lines in occupied Ukraine have begun to appear in the Ukrainian media in recent weeks.
They urged Space X to issue a statement on social media on February 8, saying it did not “do any kind of business with the Russian government or its military”.
However, Western technological components are regularly found among Russian weapons as Moscow becomes increasingly adept at evading sanctions, often importing goods through third countries.
In a statement on Telegram Saturday, Zelenskyy said that he hopes to “reboot” the top ranks of Ukraine’s armed forces with experienced combat commanders.
“Now, people who are famous in the army and who themselves know what the army needs are taking on new responsibilities,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
