(Kyiv) Russia struck Ukraine again with Iranian-made drones on Thursday, a day after accusing its neighbor of launching an unprecedented drone attack on the Kremlin.
On the Russian territory side, drones hit oil refineries in areas close to Ukraine on Thursday, another incident in a series of attacks and sabotage a few days before the military celebrations of May 9, essential in the agenda of the Kremlin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in The Hague in the Netherlands on Thursday to meet with the leaders of the International Criminal Court (ICC), after visiting Finland the day before.
The Ukrainian army announced in the morning that it had shot down the majority of drones launched by Moscow. “The invaders launched 24 Shahed 136/131 drones. The Ukrainian Air Force, in cooperation with other air defense units, shot down 18 drones,” she said on Telegram.
Among the targets targeted by Russia, the capital Kyiv, for “ the third time in four days ”, according to the head of the city’s anti-aircraft defense forces, Serguiï Popko.
All the flying machines were shot down, he said. Shrapnel fell in the streets of three districts of Kyiv, damaging several cars, but without causing any casualties, according to the same source.
Other cities in Ukraine suffered these attacks on Thursday, including the port city of Odessa in the south-west, targeted by “15 drones” of which 12 “were shot down”, according to the spokesperson for the regional administration , Sergei Brachuk.
Among these drones, “three hit a dormitory”, without causing any casualties, he said.
The day before, the city of Kherson, near the southern front and which announced a 58-hour curfew from Friday evening, had been the target of “massive” bombardments, killing 23 people and wounding 46, according to a latest report. official released Thursday.
The intensification of Russian strikes in Ukraine in recent days comes as Kyiv says it is completing preparations for a major offensive and as Russia and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea annexed by Moscow are hit by a recent series of attacks and sabotages. spectacular.
On Wednesday, Russia claimed to have shot down two Ukrainian drones which targeted the Kremlin in Moscow, the most spectacular attack attributed to Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion. President Zelensky has denied any involvement of his forces.
On Thursday, drones hit two oil refineries in southwestern Russia, near Ukraine.
A first fire, now extinguished, broke out in a tank of an oil installation in Ilsky, in the Krasnodar region, after an attack carried out by drones, according to emergency services quoted by the agencies TASS and Ria Novosti.
“There were four devices (drones)”, one of which did not explode, an anonymous security services official told Ria.
About an hour later Vasily Golubiev, the governor of the Rostov region bordering Ukraine, told him that a drone had come down on a local refinery near the village of Kiselevka, causing an explosion and a fire. which was “ immediately ” extinguished by factory personnel.
“ No victims, the damage to the facilities is insignificant ”, said Mr. Goloubiev.
The governor of the Voronezh region, also bordering Ukraine, for his part indicated on Telegram that the local anti-aircraft defense had destroyed a drone early in the morning, without victims or damage to report.
For nearly a week, a series of drone attacks and two railway sabotages have hit Russian regions near Ukraine and annexed Crimea. None of them have been claimed by Kyiv.
In addition, Mr. Zelensky arrived in The Hague in the Netherlands on Thursday to meet with the leaders of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating alleged war crimes by the Russian army in Ukraine and launched mid-March an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin.
