Russia intensifies air attacks on kyiv

The Ukrainian capital kyiv was targeted at dawn on Wednesday by a combined Russian missile and drone attack, for the first time in two months, at a time when the Ukrainians are losing ground on the front and fear losing state support. -United.

This escalation comes the day American Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised, in Brussels, a “firm” response to North Korea’s involvement alongside Russia in the war in Ukraine.

In this regard, Washington corroborated kyiv’s assertions that North Korean troops are now “engaged in combat operations” alongside Russian soldiers in the Russian region of Kursk, a small part of which is occupied by Ukrainian forces.

Russia has significantly stepped up drone raids on kyiv, carrying out them almost daily since early October, but this is the first time in more than two months that missiles have been fired at the Ukrainian capital at the same time.

“Russian armed forces launched a combined missile and drone attack on kyiv. The first time in 73 days,” noted the military administration of this city, populated by three million inhabitants before the war and which is located hundreds of kilometers from the front.

According to this source, Moscow used ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to drones for this operation which “lasted more than two hours” but which did not cause any deaths thanks to the action of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense.

An initial report shows a person injured by falling debris from a projectile shot above Brovary, a suburb of the capital.

Drones also struck the southern town of Beryslav, killing a 52-year-old woman, regional authorities reported.

In total, according to the Air Force, six missiles and 90 drones targeted the regions of kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Cherkasy, Zaporizhia, Cherniguiv and Kirovograd during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Only the Zaporizhia region is located on the front.

The same source confirmed that two cruise missiles, two ballistic missiles and 37 drones could have been destroyed.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, for his part, reiterated that the Russian army was only hitting “military targets” in response to a question about the increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine.

Moldovan police, for their part, announced on Tuesday that they had found a drone, which they said accompanied a Shahed-type drone sent by the Russians and had crashed in eastern Moldova, near its border with Ukraine. There is no risk for the local population, she added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on the nighttime attacks against his country, once again denounced “Russian terrorism” and praised the “effective” response of the anti-aircraft defense.

He expressed his “gratitude” towards his Western allies who have been supplying arms and ammunition for two and a half years.

But this assistance appears to be under threat, with Ukrainians and Europeans fearing that the United States, with the return of Donald Trump, could cut off aid to the Ukrainians just as they face great difficulties on the battlefield.

In eastern Ukraine, the Russian army, despite significant losses, conquered hundreds of square kilometers in October and is approaching tactically or strategically important cities, in particular Pokrovsk.

Moscow on Wednesday claimed the conquest of Rivnopil, a pre-war village of less than 100 inhabitants located at the junction of the eastern and southern fronts.

Furthermore, the Russian forces have received, according to the West and kyiv, the reinforcement of more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers, which the Kremlin does not deny.

They began fighting in the Kursk region partially occupied by Ukrainian soldiers since August following an offensive which was supposed to divert the Russian military to defend their own territory but which did not have the expected results.

Faced with this situation, outgoing President Joe Biden is seeking to accelerate the delivery of military aid. Of the envelope voted in the spring, approximately 9.2 billion dollars remain to be allocated, namely 7.1 billion to be drawn from American arms stocks and 2.1 billion to finance arms purchase contracts. , according to the Pentagon.

It seems unlikely, however, that the Americans will lift their veto on the use of long-range missiles deep in Russian territory, despite kyiv’s pleas.