- Russia justifies the proximity of Ukrainian aerial drones close to Moscow.
Russian military successfully tackled numerous Ukrainian drone incursions close to Moscow's heart, marking a significant event overnight on Tuesday. As per Sergei Sobyanin, the city's mayor, who shared this detail on Telegram, this was one of the most significant drone assault attempts on Moscow ever recorded. Sobyanin mentioned ten drones, while the military reported eleven being thwarted en route to Moscow.
Some of these drones made their way down in the Podolsk district, a region situated fairly close to Moscow's borders, to its south. The airports of Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Sheremetyevo, all located in Moscow's southern and eastern regions, were temporarily shut down as a response to heightened security concerns, as reported by Rosaviatsiya, the aviation authority.
Ukraine hasn't launched drone attacks against Moscow for quite some time now. In 2023, a few Ukrainian-origin unmanned aerial vehicles caused insignificant harm to a building in Moscow City's business district.
The Russian military declared that a total of 45 Ukrainian drones were obstructed throughout the night, with 23 of them over the Bryansk border region. These figures, however, couldn't be authenticated independently.
Furthermore, an alert was issued in the northern Russian port city of Murmansk later in the afternoon due to a potential drone threat. The airport was temporarily shut down in response.
According to Ukraine's reports, they managed to eliminate a Russian air defense system. One of their targets was a Russian S-300 air defense system situated in the southern Russian region of Rostov, near Novoshakhtinsk. Russia has historically employed these systems to strike ground objectives in Ukraine, although there was no independent verification of this incident.
Ukraine has been under constant Russian air raids every night since February 2022, with energy infrastructure among the primary targets. Overnight explosions were reported in the west Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyi, with alerts persisting across several areas the following morning.
According to military reports, Ukrainian forces continued to face intense pressure in the eastern part of the country, with 66 Russian assaults recorded on the Pokrovsk front on Tuesday. Fighting took place in several villages crucial to the Russians' progress towards Pokrovsk, which remains approximately 10 kilometers away. Ukrainian military sources reported advancement by Russian troops. Pokrovsk, an industrial and mining city in the Donetsk region, had close to 65,000 inhabitants prior to the conflict and serves as a crucial supply base for Ukrainian troops in the region. Heavy fighting was also reported north of Torez, according to Ukrainian military reports.
On the other hand, Ukrainian troops made headway in the Russian region of Kursk, based on observer's accounts. The ISW, an American institute dedicated to research, published photos from the region as proof of Ukrainian advancement towards the town of Korenevo. The offensive continues eastward from the town of Sudzha, which was previously taken over by the Ukrainians.
Following nearly two and a half years of safeguarding against the Russian invasion, Ukraine has, for the first time, extended its offensive operations into the Russian territory in the Kursk region. According to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, over 1260 square kilometers and 93 settlements have been reclaimed.
The European Union expressed concern over the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine, urging both parties to maintain peace and adhere to international law. Despite these tensions, European airlines continue to operate in Russia, as their routes do not pose a direct threat to the ongoing conflict.
