Ukraine on Friday claimed to have struck down 13 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces overnight targeting an airfield in the west of the country.
“Thirteen of the occupiers’ cruise missiles were destroyed on June 23…. This time, the attack was aimed at a military airfield in the Khmelnytskyi region,” the Ukrainian air force said on social media.
The country’s air force said that four TU-95 bombers fired 13 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea against a military airfield in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
“The launches were carried out around midnight from the Caspian Sea from four Tu-95MS bombers,” the air force statement said.
Air raid alerts rang across Ukraine early on Friday, with warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks issued over wide areas.
The military also alleged that it has eliminated one reconnaissance drone of an unspecified type.
Mayor of Khmelnytskyi, Oleksandr Symchyshyn reported explosions in the town with a pre-war population of around 275,000 and praised Ukrainian air defence systems.
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Meanwhile, Ukraine’s armed forces said they have halted a Russian offensive towards the cities of Kupiansk and Lyman in the east of the country, and are advancing in the south.
“We had very fierce battles in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions, but our soldiers stopped the enemy there,” Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television.
Attacks on Russia-held regions have intensified over the past month, after Ukraine received military aid to start its counter-offensive.
So far, it has retaken eight villages during its counteroperation, its first substantial gains on the battlefield for seven months, but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that it has not been smooth sailing as he would have expected.
‘Russian Navy likely training dolphins’
The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) in its report has claimed that Russia has been training combat dolphins in the Crimean peninsula.
In its daily intelligence update, the report said that the Russian Navy has invested heavily in security at the Black Sea Fleet’s main base at Sevastopol.
“In recent weeks, these defences have highly likely also been augmented by an increased number of trained marine mammals. Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbour which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins,” the report said.
“In Arctic waters, the navy also uses Beluga whales and seals. Russia has trained animals for a range of missions, but the ones housed in Sevastopol harbour are highly likely intended to counter enemy divers.”
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
