Ukrainian officials said, on Thursday, that Russian forces used Iranian-made kamikaze drones to attack the Ukrainian capital and regions of Odessa and bombed other regions with missiles, while Moscow punished the country for the fourth day after a truck bomb attack on a bridge to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia.
A raid was conducted near Makarev, a small town 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Kyiv, and destroyed vital infrastructure. Across the metropolitan area, residents whose lives had returned to normal when the war moved east months ago were once again awakened to the sirens of air raids.
It was not clear whether the drones filled with explosives caused any casualties. Ukrainian officials said 13 people were killed and 37 wounded in the past day in Russian missile strikes targeting nine regions of Ukraine.
Russian attacks on civilian areas have intensified in recent weeks with the loss of its military in multiple occupied areas of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin has illegally declared as Russian territory.
The Russian military resumed large-scale attacks in Ukraine on Monday following an explosion that destroyed the Kerch Bridge. The 12-mile stretch is significant as a symbol of Moscow’s power and carries military supplies from Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament said Thursday that Russian forces have bombed more than 70 energy facilities in Ukraine this week. He threatened a “more stringent” response to future attacks by the “Kyiv regime”, although Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the bridge bombing.
“All organizers and perpetrators of terrorist attacks must be found; those who resist must be destroyed,” State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on Telegram.
On Monday, Putin said the massive missile strikes across Ukraine were in retaliation for what he called Kyiv’s “terrorist” actions against the Kerch bridge. Putin vowed a “stern” and “proportionate” response to the Ukrainian attacks that threatened Russia’s security.
Kyiv was hit at least four times during Monday’s massive strikes, which killed at least 19 people and injured more than 100 across the country.
Russian forces have made early morning attacks a daily occurrence in southern Ukraine as the Ukrainian army launches a counter-offensive aimed at retaking occupied areas.
In the southern city of Mykolaiv, night bombing destroyed a five-storey apartment building as fighting continued along the southern front of Ukraine. Vitaly Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region, said an 11-year-old boy was pulled out of the rubble after six hours and rescue teams were searching for seven more people.
Kim said the building was hit by an S-300 missile, a type typically used to target military aircraft, but the Russian military appears to be increasingly using inaccurate ground strikes.
Ukraine’s military said its current air defenses have shot down dozens of Russian missiles and Shahid-136 drones, the so-called kamikaze aircraft that have played an increasingly deadly role in the war.
The Ukrainian Air Force Command said, on Thursday, that its air defense shot down six Iranian drones over the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions during the night. Ukrainian officials have said that Iranian trainers stationed in occupied areas of Ukraine have trained the Russians on how to operate the drones.
Some NATO allies this week pledged to send advanced weapons to Ukraine, including air defense systems that the government in Kyiv said were needed to defeat invading Russian forces.
Britain announced Thursday that it will provide missiles for NASAM’s advanced anti-aircraft systems that the Pentagon plans to send to Ukraine in the coming weeks. It is also sending hundreds of additional drones to gather information and logistical support, as well as 18 other howitzers.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said: “These weapons will help Ukraine defend its airspace from attacks and strengthen its comprehensive missile defense alongside the US NASAMS.”
The systems, which Kyiv has long wanted, are designed to provide medium to long-range defense against missile attacks.
The pledge came as NATO defense ministers chaired a meeting in Brussels of the secret nuclear planning group of the Western military alliance. NATO plans a nuclear exercise next week amid concerns that Putin will insist he will use any means necessary to defend Russian territory, including illegally annexed areas of Ukraine.
NATO is carefully watching Russia’s moves, but has not yet seen any change in its nuclear status. Russia is expected to conduct its own nuclear exercises soon, possibly at the same time as NATO or immediately after, according to NATO diplomats.
On Thursday, Putin met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the regional summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. UN officials had hoped the day before that the meeting would lead to an extension of agreements that had led to the resumption of Ukraine’s grain exports and allowing Russia to ship fertilizer.
“We are determined to transport Russian grain and fertilizer to the underdeveloped countries via Turkey,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara and Moscow could jointly decide which countries the products would go to.
The war in Ukraine caused food shortages and increased prices by slowing shipments of agricultural products.
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