Russian airstrikes targeted Ukrainian cities on Thursday following Ukranian drone attacks on a Russian battleship in the Black Sea the day before.
A video released by Ukraine purports to show how a Magura V5 sea drone was used to puncture the hull of the Russian landing ship Caesar Kunikov. The Ukrainian-made drones are extremely agile, enabling the Ukrainian special forces to target specific ships with a high degree of accuracy. Ukraine claims to have now sunk or damaged one-third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
Russia has refused to comment on the attack, neither confirming nor denying that Ukraine has destroyed another valuable asset off the coast of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. According to reporting by CNN, the attacks on ships in the Black Sea are an effort by Ukraine to stall troop movements to the front lines, which have largely remained stagnant in recent months.
Reports indicate that Russia fired numerous missiles into Ukraine shortly after the alleged attack on the warship, with some missiles targeting Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Ukraine claimed that air defenses in Kyiv destroyed all the missiles, and no damage was reported in the city.
The industrial city of Zaporizhzhia was also targeted by Russian missiles, with an official there claiming that apartment buildings, an educational institution, and a trade building were damaged. Anatolii Kurtiev, the secretary of the city council in Zaporizhzhia, said four people were injured, but no deaths were reported, according to CNN.
Buildings in Lviv, which lies near the border of NATO-ally Poland, were also targeted. Officials there claimed three people were injured in the attacks.
Ukraine retaliated, striking buildings in Belgorod, a border city that has been the target of Ukrainian resistance efforts since the failed invasion of Kyiv almost two years ago. Russian officials there claim that five people were killed and more than two dozen were injured.
Ukraine has continued to develop and deploy drones to thwart Russia’s superior numbers, which is one factor that has led to the inability of Russia’s army to defeat Ukraine. Numerous Western countries have supplied billions of dollars worth of munitions, weapons systems, and aid to Ukraine using taxpayer money.
The ongoing conflict has led to the United States spending at least $113 billion on aid to Ukraine. As reported by The Dallas Express, a new round of aid for Ukraine stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives after some lawmakers blocked the bill, which was tied to border security measures that many Congress members found unsatisfactory.
