Russia said it thwarted one of Ukraine’s largest drone strikes to date on western Russia on Wednesday, shooting down unmanned aircraft in at least six regions, and foiling a Ukrainian naval offensive on the Crimean peninsula that it inspired.
Russian military aircraft were damaged and civilian flights disrupted in the drone strikes, Russian officials said, citing Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan and Moscow regions as targets.
The most significant attack appeared to have taken place in Pskov about 411 miles north of the Ukrainian border, near the borders of Estonia and Latvia, where Russian officials said four Il-76 military transport planes were damaged.
Rescuers work at the site of a building damaged by Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine on August 30, 2023. via REUTERS
Ukraine, which has yet to achieve major success in its summer ground counteroffensive, has struck deep into Russia in recent months, including an attack on the Kremlin in May and numerous drone strikes on civilian targets in Moscow.
Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind the attacks on Russian territory, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction with them.
Footage published by the Pskov governor on Telegram showed smoke rising from a large fire as sirens and explosions rang out.
A plume of smoke is illuminated by a flash of light amid a drone strike in Pskov, Russia. MIKHAIL VEDERNIKOV via REUTERS
Another report on the Telegram channel showed anti-aircraft systems in action around the city, which is just 20 miles east of the Estonian border.
The Tass news agency, citing emergency services, said four Il-76 transport planes, which are the workhorses of the Russian military, had broken down at a military airport.
Two of the planes “burst into flames”, he added.
Firefighters put out a fire after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 30, 2023.AP
Civil flights have been canceled at the local airport.
The airspace around Moscow’s Vnukovo airport was temporarily closed, TASS reported.
Russia says a Ukrainian drone tried to attack a TV tower in Bryansk region. No casualties were reported.
A man inspects the broken windows of a building damaged following a missile attack in Kyiv, on August 30, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
A Russian plane also destroyed four Ukrainian fast attack boats carrying up to 50 paratroopers in an operation in the Black Sea, the military said.
Russia launched its own airstrikes on Wednesday morning, killing at least two people in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Reuters could not independently verify the report and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Rescuers work on the roof of a damaged residential building following a missile attack in Kyiv on August 30, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
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The drone strike came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new military aid package to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
The package includes additional mine-clearing equipment, missiles for air defense, as well as ammunition for artillery and small arms, Blinken said in a statement.
Rescuers work at another site of residential buildings badly damaged by Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine on August 30, 2023. via REUTERS
Ukraine used large amounts of ammunition in some of the fiercest battles of the war as it suppressed a summer counteroffensive in the south and east, where Russian forces are entrenched.
On Tuesday Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried in a leafy cemetery on the outskirts of St Petersburg, six days after he was killed in an unexplained plane crash north of Moscow.
Prigozhin, two top lieutenants of his Wagner group and four bodyguards were among 10 people killed when his Embraer Legacy 600 private jet crashed under unexplained circumstances on August 23.
A local resident looks at debris from a Russian rocket in a city park after a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 30, 2023. AP
He died two months after launching a brief rebellion against Russia’s defense establishment, in the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule since he came to power in 1999.
Moscow says it is investigating the crash and has denied any involvement, but in Washington White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave the strongest statement yet on the possibility that Putin ordered the killing.
“We all know that the Kremlin has a long history of killing opponents,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious what’s going on here.”
A woman removes debris from her balcony in a residential building damaged following a missile attack in Kyiv on August 30, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Russia informed Brazil’s aircraft investigation authority that it would not investigate the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer jet under international rules “at this time”, the Brazilian agency told Reuters on Tuesday.
Russian aviation authorities are under no obligation to follow international investigative protocols because the flight from Moscow to St Petersburg was domestic.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
