Ukrainian air defense intercepts a mid-air Shahed drone. ©Associated PressRussian drones rain down on Kiev
After a relative lull, Russia launched a drone strike early Sunday on Ukraine’s capital, officials said.
It was the first such attack in 12 days, with Moscow unleashing relentless attacks on Kiev throughout June.
All of the Iranian-made Shahed explosive drones were detected and shot down, according to Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city administration. In addition to the city itself, the surrounding Kiev region was targeted.
Regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said one person was injured by falling debris from a destroyed drone.
Officials in the Ukrainian capital have not provided an exact number of drones that have attacked the city. But the Ukrainian Air Force said eight Shahed missiles and three Kalibr cruise missiles across the country were fired by the Russians.
Ukraine reports incremental gains in heavy combat
Kiev said on Monday its forces had gained ground along its eastern and southern fronts from Russian troops, reclaiming 37.4 square kilometers of territory in the past week.
Ukrainian forces were advancing in the Bakhmut direction, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said, adding that Russian forces were attacking in the Lyman, Avdiivka and Mariinka directions in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has recovered nine square kilometers in the past week along the eastern front, Maliar said.
In the south, Ukraine retook 28.4 kilometers of territory, bringing the total area of the retaken territory to 37.4 square km of territory.
Over the weekend, Russia said its forces had repelled Ukrainian attacks near villages around Bakhmut and in areas further south.
Equipped with Western equipment and training, Kiev launched its long-awaited counter-offensive in June. Analysts say Ukraine’s progress has been slow, with Russia putting up strong resistance.
Both sides are likely to have suffered heavy casualties.
Moscow says 700,000 Ukrainian children now in Russia
Russia has brought some 700,000 children from war-torn Ukraine to its territory, Grigory Karasin, head of the international committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, said on Sunday evening.
Moscow says its plan to bring children from Ukraine to Russia is to protect orphans and abandoned children in the conflict zone.
However, Ukraine says many children have been illegally deported, while the US says thousands have been forcibly removed from their homes.
Most of the movement of people and children occurred in the first months of the war.
In July 2022, the United States estimated that Russia had “forcibly deported” 260,000 children, while Ukraine’s Ministry of Integration of the Occupied Territories says 19,492 Ukrainian children are currently considered to be illegally deported.
