Ukraine’s security services said Saturday they had struck a Russian ammunition factory in a border region, as Moscow’s forces claimed yet another advance on the battlefield.
Ukraine also said it had thwarted a “massive” overnight Russian aerial attack that saw drones launched towards the capital Kyiv.
A large fire and several explosions were reported overnight in the Russian region of Voronezh, which borders Ukraine, prompting officials to evacuate locals living near the blaze.
Russian Telegram channels said the fire broke out in a local munitions depot.
Ukraine’s SBU security services later claimed it had hit a Russian ammunition depot.
A source in the SBU told AFP that Kyiv was targeting “military airfields, ammunition depots and infrastructure facilities” in order to “create a demilitarised zone in the regions of Russia adjacent to Ukraine.”
Drones target the capital
Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 67 drones at the country overnight, adding that it shot down 58 of them.
AFP reporters in Kyiv heard loud explosions overnight.
Debris from one downed drone landed near the Ukrainian parliament in the centre of the city.
In the east of the country, three people were killed in Russian shelling on Kostyantynivka — in the Donetsk region where Russian troops are advancing — the local governor said.
Russia’s military said Saturday it had seized the village of Kalynove, around 25 kilometres (16 miles) southeast of the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk, which Russia is seeking to capture.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia’s “primary objective” in the conflict was to capture the entire Donbas region — which consists of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
The head of Ukraine’s neighbouring Dnipropretovsk region said the number of wounded in a missile attack on the city of Pavlograd a day earlier had increased to 82, including seven children.
On the diplomatic front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the sidelines of an economic forum in the country on Saturday.
Meloni reaffirmed her strong support for Kyiv.
Zelensky was using the brief trip to Europe, which also included meetings with Germany’s Olaf Scholz and an address to the Ramstein defence summit, to press allies for more weapons supplies.
With AFP
