Missile trails are seen in the sky over the city after a Russian missile attack during the Russian attack on Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine, on November 11, 2023. Portal/Anna Voitenko acquires license rights
KYIV, Nov 11 (Portal) – Russia launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the surrounding region on Saturday for the first time in more than seven weeks, bombing the east and south of the country with drones, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian border guards said they had recaptured a village in the northeast of the country next to the Russian border.
Officials in the east, the focus of Russia’s slow advance for 20 months, said Ukrainian forces had repelled numerous attacks by Moscow troops and they expected more attacks, particularly around the devastated town of Avdiivka.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said a Russian ballistic missile was fired toward the capital at around 8 a.m. (0600 GMT).
“After a long pause of 52 days, the enemy has resumed missile attacks on Kiev,” Popko said on the messaging app Telegram. “The missile failed to reach Kiev and air defense forces shot it down as it approached the capital.”
Popko said there were no injuries or major damage.
Ruslan Kravchenko, regional governor of the Central Kyiv region, said five private homes and several commercial buildings in the area were damaged. He said two Russian missiles hit a field between settlements.
Ukraine’s air defense also shot down 19 of 31 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russian forces in southern and eastern regions overnight, the air force said.
Ukrainian intelligence official Andriy Yusov told national television: “This is not the first or last combined attack,” citing the increasing number of air alerts in recent days.
UKRAINIAN FLAG IN BORDER VILLAGE
An online video from the Kharkiv region showed, without further explanation, border guards hoisting the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag in the village of Topoli on the Russian border. Ukrainian forces launched a lightning push to recapture large areas in the northeast a year ago and have been waging a counteroffensive in the east and south since June.
Prosecutors in the northern Sumy region said two people on motorcycles died when Russian forces shelled a road.
In the east, military spokesman Oleskandr Shtupun said Ukrainian troops repelled 35 Russian attacks in and near Avdiivka, which has been under heavy fire since mid-October.
Shtupun told national television that 70 percent of airstrikes in the east and south were aimed at Avdiivka.
Officials in Avdiivka say they expect a new Russian advance on the city once the ground dries out after days of heavy rain. Videos show buildings being reduced to rubble, and officials say an increasing number of the remaining 1,500 residents of a pre-war population of 32,000 were preparing to evacuate.
In the Black Sea port of Odessa, regional governor Oleh Kiper said the southern region was attacked with missiles and drones on Friday evening and overnight. Three people were injured and port infrastructure was damaged in the attacks, he said, without giving further details.
Russia has stepped up bombings of Ukraine’s ports, including Odessa, and grain infrastructure since Moscow pulled out of a deal allowing exports from Ukrainian ports in July.
Russian reports of the fighting said their forces attacked positions near Bakhmut, a city that Moscow captured in May after months of fierce fighting.
Portal was unable to verify either side’s accounts.
Reporting by Olena Harmash; Edited by Kirsten Donovan, Ron Popeski and David Gregorio
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