one dead in an attack on kyiv, a “response” to a Ukrainian strike with Western missiles

“As a result of the enemy attack, two people were hospitalized and debris fell in four areas, setting cars and buildings on fire,” kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. “Emergency services are working everywhere,” he added.

Putin wants a “high-tech duel”

The explosions came after warnings from the Ukrainian air force of an imminent ballistic missile attack. “Ballistic missile coming from the north! “, warned the Ukrainian Air Force in a message on Telegram, almost three years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a war which has already claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The Russian army said it attacked kyiv “in response” to a Ukrainian strike carried out Wednesday against a Russian factory with Western missiles, a red line for Moscow. “In response […]a group strike was carried out this morning with long-range precision weapons against the control center (of the Ukrainian special services) SBU, the Luch design bureau, based in kyiv, which designs and manufactures Neptune missile systems “, indicated the Russian army in a press release, assuring that “all targets were hit”.

During his annual television press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday proposed to the West a “high-tech duel of the 21st century” between the Russian “Orechnik” missile and their anti-aircraft defense means.

Ukrainian authorities also reported missile attacks in the southern city of Kherson, where one person was killed and six injured, as well as several other towns and villages.

Reconquer Kupiansk

Russian forces are advancing in the Kharkiv region, bordering Russia, with the aim of reconquering the city of Kupiansk, occupied during the first year of the war. The city was occupied by the Russian army at the start of its invasion in February 2022, then liberated by Ukrainian forces during a dazzling counter-offensive in September of the same year.

Koupiansk, an important railway junction in this sector, is crossed by the Oskil River, which has become the de facto front line between Russian and Ukrainian troops.