Air defense units near Kyiv were working to repel a Russian air attack early Monday, according to Ukrainian military officials.
The air strikes followed Sunday’s ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.
“This is already the third ballistic strike on the capital in August, with exact intervals of six days between each attack,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s air force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, said Russia launched eight missiles on Sunday morning, including three ballistic, three cruise and two guided aircraft missiles. Ukraine shot down five of them, he said.
Russia’s defense ministry reported Sunday that its troops had captured a village 15 kilometers away from the Ukrainian supply hub of Pokrovsk.
In his nightly address on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the military’s efforts to repel attackers.
“In just one day, there have been dozens of attacks, but our units, our brigades, are doing everything to hold the positions,” he said. He also said troops destroyed Russian equipment near Toretsk, in Donetsk region.
“All this is more than just defense for Ukraine. It is now our primary task in defensive operations overall, to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions,” he said. “This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory – our operation in the Kursk region.”
As part of that operation, Oleshchuk said Ukrainian air forces destroyed a strategic bridge over the Seym River in the Kursk region. It was the second key bridge struck by Ukraine since Friday.
“Minus one more bridge! Ukrainian Air Force aviation continues to deprive the enemy of logistical capabilities with precision airstrikes, which significantly affects the course of hostilities,” Oleshchuk said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine said it has captured more than 80 settlements over 1,150 square kilometers in Kursk since operations in the region began Aug. 6.
“Everything that inflicts losses on the Russian army, Russian state, their military-industrial complex, and their economy helps prevent the war from expanding and brings us closer to a just end to this aggression – a just peace for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in his address.
Material from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press was used in this report.
