At least one civilian was injured and a gas pipeline and residential buildings in the river and sea port of Mykolaiv were damaged, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday. 40 of 45 Shahed attack drones launched by Russia have been destroyed, the Ukrainian Air Force announced on the messaging app Telegram.
“The air alert in the capital lasted almost two hours,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kiev military administration, said on Telegram. He added that all drones over Kiev were shot down on approach. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or destruction in or near the capital.
The Ukrainian military command in the south of the country said on Telegram that its air defense systems were deployed for more than five hours and destroyed 26 Shahed drones shot down by Russia over several southern regions, especially over the Mykolaiv region near the Black Sea have. At least one civilian was injured in the attack in southern Ukraine, the military said.
The main target was once again the coastal strip with infrastructure and agro-industrial facilities. Falling debris from a downed drone and the blast wave damaged residential buildings and a gas pipeline in Mykolaiv. Four drones were shot down over the Black Sea port of Odessa. Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up airstrikes away from the front line in recent months, targeting each other’s critical energy, military and transport infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed former Deputy Defense Minister Olexandr Pavliuk as the new ground forces commander. This emerges from a decree published on Sunday.
According to information from Kiev, Russian troops in Ukraine are using the Starlink satellite internet service from US billionaire Elon Musk. Ukrainian military intelligence published an audio recording on Telegram in which Russian paratroopers are said to be discussing the deployment of Starlink terminals. There is no statement from Russia. Starlink is operated by SpaceX. Tesla boss Musk’s company said last week that it has no business relationships with Russia and that Starlink does not work there.
