Air defence foils strike on Kyiv; Russia claims to have downed Ukrainian drone over Moscow after airport temporarily closed
Air defence appears to have prevented Russian strikes on Kyiv on Friday morning, with falling debris striking the city but no casualties reported. Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted to Telegram to state: “In addition to the debris of the rocket that fell on the territory of one of the capital’s children’s hospitals, two more crash sites were found in the Obolon district of Kyiv. The roof of a private house was damaged on Bogatyrska Street. Also in Obolon, a wreck was discovered in an open area in one of the summer cooperatives. There are no casualties.”
Sergey Sobyanin, mayor of Moscow, has reported that nobody has been injured after a drone was downed over the city. He posted to Telegram to say: “An attempt was made to fly a drone over the city. As a result of the air defence work, it was eliminated. No one was hurt when debris fell in the area of Karamyshevskaya embankment. There are no serious damages. Emergency services are on site.”
Vnukovo airport in Moscow was temporarily closed due to a drone in the region’s airspace.
Two people – a woman and a 44-year-old man – were injured when artillery fire hit the city of Kherson. Another man was injured in the region in a drone strike on Beryslav.
Ukrainian forces have recaptured the heights over Bakhmut and are successfully encircling Russian troops in the city, the deputy defence minister in Kyiv has said. In an interview with the Guardian, Hanna Maliar said Russian soldiers could no longer move around Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region and progress was being made in outflanking enemy forces after months of deadly battles.
A Russian missile struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday evening, leaving one dead and 16 injured, Ukrainian officials said.
Zaporizhzhia governor Yuriy Malashko said the 16 injured included four children. UN staff used the hotel when they worked in the town, said Denise Brown, the humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine. It was the second strike on Zaporizhzhia in as many days. Two young women and a man were killed and nine other people were wounded in a Russian missile attack on Wednesday.
Tass reports that Ukrainian forces have hit the occupied city of Horlivka in Donetsk with four cluster munitions. There were no details of any casualties.
Russian authorities appear to have completely ruled out any Ukrainian involvement in the major explosion at the Zagorsk optical and mechanical plant in Sergiev Posad, near Moscow. Interfax reports that a criminal case has been initiated on violation of industrial safety requirements, and the technical director of the Piro-Ross company, which owned the warehouse where the explosion occurred, was detained. Eight people are still reported to be missing, with 84 wounded. One person is known to have died.
The White House is asking Congress for an additional $24bn in Ukraine aid, senior administration officials revealed on Thursday. The US has so far given Ukraine more than $113bn in aid since Russia invaded in February 2021, making it Ukraine’s biggest funder in its defense against Russia.
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