Russia attacks Ukraine with 12 drones, cruise missile; Kyiv destroys 10 drones
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A drone view on May 12 showing the remains of Maryinka that was destroyed by the Russians, as Moscow's attack on Ukraine continues in the city.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV – Russia launched 12 drones and a cruise missile at Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian air defence systems destroying 10 drones before they reached their targets, Ukraine’s air force said on Sunday.
The cruise missile was not destroyed but did not reach its target, the air force said, without giving further details. It did not say what happened to the two drones that were not destroyed.
“Ten out of 12 is a perfect score. These are good results that we see every day,” air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on national television.
Reuters could not independently verify the air force’s report. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
The Iranian-made Shahed drones were headed towards Ukraine’s north-west, the air force said. Most were downed in the Mykolaiv region in the south.
Regional officials confirmed the attack but said that they had no information on casualties or damage.
Meanwhile, Russian forces had eased attacks on the beleaguered eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka on Dec 2, and unofficial reports from the region suggested they had failed to capture the devastated town of Maryinka to the south-west.
Russia has focused on eastern Ukraine since abandoning an advance on Kyiv in the first days after the February 2022 invasion.
Since mid-October, the military has set its sights on seizing Avdiivka
Russian reports on Dec 1 suggested Moscow’s troops had taken control of Maryinka, which has been engulfed in fighting for well over a year. Unofficial Ukrainian reports on Dec 2 said its forces were holding some districts.
Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told national television that Russian attacks on Avdiivka had halved over the past 24 hours, largely as a result of heavy losses.
“The coking plant is controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces,” Mr Shtupun said. “Enemy forces are trying to make their way inside but are suffering losses in infantry and equipment.”
Fighting was still intense, he said, in an adjacent area outside the town centre known as the “industrial zone”. Russia’s popular war blog Rybar said the zone had fallen under Russian control.
Mr Vitaliy Barabash, head of the town’s military administration, told Channel 24 television that Avdiivka was “starting to look like Maryinka, a settlement that basically no longer exists”.
“It has been razed to its foundations,” he added.
There were no official Ukrainian reports on Maryinka, but military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said reports of its capture by Russian troops were untrue.
“We acknowledge that there was an advance there of the Russian military,” he said in an online presentation. “But the south-western and north-western parts of the town are under the control of Ukrainian forces.”
Deepstate, an unofficial Ukrainian war blog, quoted Ukrainian servicemen as denying any notion that Russian forces had secured full control over what was once a town of 10,000.
Russia’s Defence Ministry made no mention of Maryinka.
Russian war blog Rybar referred to photos on social media of Russian flags in the town but added: “Nevertheless, several buildings remain under the control of the Ukrainian military.”
Another Ukrainian spokesman, Mr Volodymyr Fitio, told national television that Kyiv’s forces had repelled 21 Russian attacks in areas surrounding Bakhmut. The town, also shattered by months of fighting, was captured by Russian forces in May, but Ukrainian troops have since taken back nearby villages.
Ukrainian forces have focused on recapturing occupied villages in the east and south in a counter-offensive launched in June, though President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged that advances have been slower than Kyiv wanted. REUTERS
