(Kyiv) Russia again subjected Ukraine to a barrage of cruise and other missiles on Thursday, striking targets from east to west as the first anniversary of the war approaches.
One of the strikes killed a 79-year-old woman and injured at least seven others, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Russian forces used various types of missiles, firing 36 in a two-hour burst overnight, Ukrainian military chief Valery Zaluzhnyy said. Ukrainian air defense batteries shot down 16 of them, he said, which is a lower success rate than against some previous Russian waves.
Ukrainian authorities said targets were struck in the north, west, south, east and center of the country.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said Russian forces had “changed tactics” for the strike, deploying what he described as “active reconnaissance” and “false targets”.
Russian troops launched balloons with corner reflectors to fool Ukraine’s air defense as part of an effort to regain some battlefield advantage after months of setbacks, Oleksiy Danilov said. the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
“It indicates that (the Russians) are getting ready and not sleeping,” Danilov told Ukrainian television, “and they are starting to use other methods.”
Ukrainian air defenses have been reinforced with Western-supplied weapon systems and have had high success rates against previous Russian barrages of missiles and killer drones.
One of the strikes overnight caused casualties and destroyed homes in the eastern town of Pavlohrad, the regional governor said. Serhiy Lysak said a 79-year-old woman was killed and at least seven other people were injured, including two who were later hospitalized.
The strike destroyed seven homes, damaged 30 others and sparked a fire at an industrial site that emergency services extinguished within hours, the governor added.
A regional governor in western Ukraine, Maksym Kozitskyi, said a fire broke out at a “critical” infrastructure facility in Lviv province. He did not immediately give details.
Overall, Russian attacks and shelling over the past 24 hours have killed at least seven people, Ukraine’s presidential office said on Thursday.