For the sixth time this month, Russian troops bombed the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, July 25. However, the authorities pointed out that there were no casualties in kyiv, due to the fact that its defenses intercepted all the explosive drones launched by Moscow. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused the invaded nation of a foiled assault against one of its ships in the Black Sea, an area of exacerbated tensions in recent days after Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement for the export of Ukrainian grains in the middle of the war.
Air raid alarms went off again on July 25 in central and northern Ukraine, including kyiv, the capital, for more than three hours.
The invading troops launched their sixth air offensive so far this month against the country’s main city with Iranian-made Shahed drones, said Serhiy Popko, head of Kiev’s military administration.
However, the attack did not leave any injuries or fatalities, after the invaded nation’s defenses managed to intercept and shoot down all the explosive aircraft that were launched against the capital. “All air targets were detected and destroyed on the approach to kyiv,” Popko said.
However, the governor of the kyiv region, Ruslan Kravchenko, reported that falling debris caused a fire in an open field.
But kyiv was not the only area struck in the last hours by the Russian Army. In the eastern Donetsk province, two people were killed, including a 10-year-old boy, and seven were wounded by a Russian shelling of the city of Kostiantynivka, the regional governor said.
In the northwestern Zhytomyr region, authorities reported a building was hit by a shell, while the central city of Cherkasy was hit by at least two drones.
An area of the Poltava region, also in the center of the nation, was hit by an unmanned aircraft, as was Sumy, in northern Ukraine, the local Army specified.
“About 10 drones were registered, the information is becoming clearer,” said the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ihnat, who indicated that air defenses were activated in three northern regions of the country.
Russia increases its fury. These attacks took place a day after the Kremlin warned of “forceful retaliatory measures” for the drone attack in Moscow of which it accused Ukraine and which a security source from the invaded nation acknowledged.
Ukraine reports some progress in its counteroffensive
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south continues with which it promises to recover the territories seized by Russia, including the province of Crimea, annexed by Vladimir Putin in 2014. Kiev on Tuesday claimed that it had recovered small swaths of territory in the south and east of the country.
Andriy Kovalev, spokesman for the general staff of the Kiev Armed Forces, said his forces advanced in the direction of the southeastern village of Staromayorske, near settlements retaken by Ukraine last month in the Donetsk region.
Russian-imposed authorities in Lugansk province, also in the east, said a post office was destroyed and a bus station damaged in a Ukrainian attack in the occupied Kreminna area. No injuries were reported.
Also, Suspilne, the Ukrainian state broadcaster, reported that the Ukrainian military made territorial gains near Bakhmut after having “knocked out the Russian Army from positions near Andriivka” in the direction of that besieged city.
Amid attempts by Ukrainian forces to recapture the entirety of theIn an area in the hands of the Russians, towns like Torestk, near Bakhmut, are attacked with more intensity on a daily basis, reported France24’s special envoy to Ukraine, Catalina Gómez.
Moscow accuses kyiv of aborted attack on a ship in the Black Sea
According to the Kremlin version, two unmanned ships of the Ukrainian Armed Forces tried to attack the ship “Sergei Kotov”, one of the surveillance ships of the Russian Fleet in the Black Sea.
However, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that its troops destroyed the two vessels involved in the ramming.
“In the course of repelling the attack, both remote-controlled enemy ships were destroyed by fire from the Russian ship’s standard guns at a range of 800 and 1,000 meters. There were no victims. Sergey Kotov continues to fulfill her tasks, ”assured the Defense portfolio.
The Russian ship was about 370 kilometers southwest of Sevastopol, a large port on the peninsula of Crimea.
⚡️Russian MoD: “Tonight, the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to attack the Sergey Kotov patrol ship, which performs tasks in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, with two unmanned boats”
The ministry claims to have destroyed both unmanned boats. pic.twitter.com/1jz8KbMnd4
—War Monitor (@WarMonitors) July 25, 2023
Naval drones are boats that work on the surface of the water and are controlled from a distance. This is not the first time that the invading troops have accused Ukraine of using such vessels to attack Russian targets in the Black Sea.
But that area has seen increased tension in recent days after Moscow unilaterally withdrew from the agreement for the export of Ukrainian grains, which it allowed crucial grain exports to reach the world, including many countries facing the threat of famine.
After its withdrawal, the Russian Army has hit the ports and infrastructure used to transport agricultural products in Kiev with particular force, which also responds with assaults, in the midst of a cycle of confrontations and a conflict that seems far from over.
With Reuters, EFE and local media
