On Friday morning, Russia carried out strikes on military infrastructure sites in western Ukraine using long-range precision weapons, the Defense Ministry said in a briefing. The strikes destroyed airfields near the cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, the military said.
The attacks were confirmed by regional authorities in both cities, which are located in the southwest and northwest of Ukraine, respectively.
Over the course of 24 hours, Russian warplanes destroyed 107 military sites of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said. This increased the total number of military infrastructure targets reported by Russia as destroyed during the campaign to 3,213.
Turkish-made Baykar Bayraktar TB2 attack drones were the primary target for Russian air defense forces on Thursday, according to the briefing. A total of eight such aircraft were taken down by Russian troops, in addition to three Ukrainian Mil Mi-24 helicopters, Konashenkov said.
The Russian forces and their allies from the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk republics have made further advances on the ground in eastern Ukraine, the official said. The city of Volnovakha, one of the strongholds of the Ukrainian troops, has been captured by Donetsk rebels, he said.
The Russian incursion into Ukraine is now in its third week. Moscow says the attack was necessary to eliminate threats emanating from Ukraine towards its breakaway regions and Russia itself.
Kiev and its foreign backers called the Russian move an unprovoked act of “aggression”. Western nations hit Moscow with harsh economic sanctions intended to devastate the Russian economy.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
