Kyiv, Ukraine. Days after Ukraine began a surprise military raid In the Russian border region of Kursk, Zelenskyy broke the government’s silence on the matter Saturday night by indirectly acknowledging ongoing military actions to “push the war into the territory of the aggressor” in his late-night speech.
Overnight on Sunday, a Russian missile and drone bombardment over kyiv killed two people, including a 4-year-old boy. In Russia, the Kursk regional governor said a Ukrainian missile shot down by Russian air defenses fell on a residential building, injuring 13 people.
Russia attacked Ukraine with four ballistic missiles and 57 Shahed drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Air defenses shot down 53 drones.
The bodies of a 35-year-old man and his son were found under rubble after missile fragments fell on a residential area in kyiv’s suburban Brovary district, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said on Sunday. Three other people from the district were also injured in the attack.
Serhii Popko, head of the kyiv City Military Administration, said it was the second time this month that kyiv had been attacked.
Popko said the ballistic missiles missed the capital, but the suburbs were hit, while drones targeting the capital were shot down.
Zelenskyy, citing preliminary information, said Russia had used a North Korean missile in the attack. Ukraine and the United States have previously said that Russia has used north korean missiles in the war.
Zelenskyy reiterated calls for Western allies to step up their assistance to Ukraine, and that “to truly stop Russian terrorism, we need not only a comprehensive air shield that protects all our cities and communities, but also firm decisions by partners: decisions that will remove restrictions on our defensive actions.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s incursion into Russia continued for the sixth day. The largest such attack since the unprecedented large-scale invasion using Ukrainian military units on Russian soil, it took Moscow by surprise and was an embarrassment to Russian military leaders who have rushed to contain the breach.
The exact objectives of the operation remain unclear and Ukrainian military officials have adopted a policy of secrecy, presumably to ensure its success. Military experts have said it is likely aimed at drawing Russian reserves away from intense fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, while a presidential adviser suggested it could strengthen kyiv’s position in any future negotiations with Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday that Ukraine “understands perfectly well” that the recent attacks “make no sense from a military point of view.”
“The kyiv regime continues its terrorist activity with the sole purpose of intimidating the peaceful population of Russia,” he added.
Kursk’s acting governor, Aleksei Smirnov, said on Sunday that a “Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group” entered the Belovsky district the previous day, but that the situation had been “stabilized.”
In Russia, the Defense Ministry said 35 drones were shot down overnight over the Kursk, Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Oryol regions.
Ukraine has not commented on Sunday’s drone attacks inside Russia. But it comes as Ukraine has increased the pace of similar drone attacks in recent weeks, targeting mainly military infrastructure and oil depots.
Meanwhile, Belarus said it would send more troops to its border with Ukraine on Saturday, saying Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace as part of kyiv’s military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarusian air defense forces destroyed dozens of targets flying from Ukraine over the Mogilev region bordering Russia on Friday night.
“The Ukrainian armed forces violated all rules of conduct and violated the airspace of the Republic of Belarus. In the eastern direction, very close to us, in the Kostyukovichi district,” Lukashenko said at a meeting in Minsk on Saturday.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said Belarus views the violation of its airspace as a provocation and is “ready to retaliate.”
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