(Moscow) Russia said on Sunday it had shot down Ukrainian drones in four of its regions, notably around the capital Moscow, as well as two Ukrainian missiles over the Sea of Azov, the day after a large drone attack on the city of Kyiv.
The drone attacks targeted Russian regions bordering Ukraine and around Moscow, Russian authorities said. “Air defense destroyed four Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk, Smolensk and Tula regions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier on Sunday, Russia assured that Ukrainian drones had also been shot down over the Moscow region and said it had shot down two Ukrainian missiles heading towards its territory over the Sea of Azov.
“Russian air defense located and destroyed two Ukrainian missiles over the Azov Sea area,” according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.
For its part, Ukraine claimed to have shot down eight of the nine drones launched against its territory on Sunday.
These offensives come the day after a vast drone attack launched by Moscow against the Ukrainian capital, presented by Kyiv as the most important since the start of the conflict in February 2022.
PHOTO UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICES VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
This photograph released by Ukrainian emergency services on November 25 shows a rescuer working at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv.
According to Ukraine, Moscow launched 75 attack drones on Saturday, mainly towards the capital Kyiv, of which 71 were shot down by Ukrainian forces.
This attack left five people injured, according to the results communicated on Saturday by the authorities, and deprived dozens of apartment buildings and buildings of electricity.
As winter approaches, Kyiv is preparing for a new campaign of massive Russian bombings targeting its energy infrastructure and fears a situation similar to that of winter 2022 when millions of people were deprived of power in the midst of a wave of cold.
” Rebellion ”
The drone attack on Saturday also took place on the day of commemoration in Ukraine of the Holodomor, the great famine of the 1930s which caused the death of millions of Ukrainians, a “genocide” orchestrated according to Kyiv by Joseph Stalin.
PHOTO ROMAN PILIPEY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A rally to pay tribute to the victims of the 1932-1933 famine was held at the National Holodomor Memorial Museum in Kyiv on November 25.
In a message commemorating the Holodomor, US President Joe Biden assured Saturday that “Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure is once again being deliberately targeted” by Moscow, which he accused of “deliberately” damaging fields and agricultural infrastructure.
Russia, for its part, emphasizes that the famine of the 1930s caused victims not only of Ukrainians, but also of Russians, Kazakhs and other nationalities, in a context of land collectivization.
These offensives also come at a time when Ukraine is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the pro-Western Maidan revolution, which aroused the anger of its Russian neighbor.
Shortly after the Ukrainian overthrow of the Moscow-backed regime in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and supported separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Ten years later, Russia continues to judge the Maidan revolution as an illegitimate “coup d’état” and aims to install a new government in Kyiv.
“In Kyiv ten years ago there was a coup by force and the legitimate authorities were overthrown,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.
Nearly 400 Ukrainian towns without electricity
Nearly 400 localities are without electricity in Ukraine due to “extremely difficult” weather conditions, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Sunday, while the Ukrainian electricity system is threatened by Russian bombings.
Ukraine fears a new campaign of massive Russian strikes targeting its essential infrastructure this winter, as in 2022 when these attacks plunged millions of people into cold and darkness.
“A large part of the territory of our country is experiencing extremely difficult weather conditions,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily message.
According to him, around 400 localities in ten regions, particularly in the South, are without power.
“Our engineers will restore electricity supplies as soon as possible,” he promised, as the country faces winter temperatures and snowstorms in places.
As of Thursday, the national operator Ukrenergo reported a “difficult” situation for the electricity network due to the increase in consumption linked to the fall in temperatures.
Ukrenergo had to resort to “emergency assistance” on Wednesday by importing electricity from three neighboring EU countries: Romania, Slovakia and Poland.
And on Saturday, the Ukrainian capital was targeted by the largest Russian drone attack since the start of the war, the strikes of which temporarily deprived dozens of apartment buildings of electricity.
This air attack could be the first in a new Russian bombing campaign.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated in early October that Russia will strive this winter to “destroy” his country’s electricity system. To face this threat, Kyiv is demanding new anti-aircraft defense systems from its Western allies.