KYIV, Ukraine — Greater than 100 Ukrainian drones have been shot down over Russia Sunday, officers mentioned, sparking a wildfire and setting an house block alight in one of many largest barrages seen over Russian skies since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s Ministry of Protection reported that it had shot down 125 drones in a single day throughout seven areas. The southwestern area of Volgograd got here below significantly heavy fireplace, with 67 Ukrainian drones reportedly downed by Russian air defenses.
Seventeen drones have been additionally seen over Russia’s Voronezh area, the place falling particles broken an house block and a personal dwelling, mentioned Gov. Aleksandr Gusev. Photos on social media confirmed flames rising from the home windows of the highest ground of a high-rise constructing. No casualties have been reported.
An additional 18 drones have been reported over Russia’s Rostov area, the place falling particles sparked a wildfire, mentioned Gov. Vasily Golubev.
He mentioned that the fireplace didn’t pose a risk to populated areas, however that emergency providers have been preventing to extinguish the blaze, which had engulfed 20 hectares (49.4 acres) of forest.
Russian floor assault warnings
Elsewhere, 16 civilians have been injured in an in a single day barrage on the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Zaporizhzhia after Ukrainian army leaders warned that Moscow may very well be getting ready for a brand new army offensive in the nation’s south.
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The town was focused by Russian information bombs in 10 separate assaults that broken a high-rise constructing and a number of other residential properties, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov wrote on his official Telegram channel. Extra folks might nonetheless be trapped beneath the rubble, he mentioned.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy additionally mentioned that the Zaporizhzhia assault had broken town’s transport hyperlinks. “At the moment, Russia struck Zaporizhzhia with aerial bombs. Peculiar residential buildings have been broken and the doorway of 1 constructing was destroyed. The town’s infrastructure and railway have been additionally broken,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a put up on X.
The Ukrainian chief appeared Sunday at a memorial service to make the 83rd anniversary of the Babyn Yar bloodbath, probably the most notorious mass slaughters of World Battle II.
Babyn Yar, a ravine within the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, is the place almost 34,000 Jews have been killed inside 48 hours in 1941 when town was below Nazi occupation.
“Babyn Yar is vivid proof of the atrocities that regimes are able to when led by leaders who depend on intimidation and violence. At any time, they’re no completely different,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a press release. “However the world’s response needs to be completely different. That is the lesson the world ought to have realized. We should guard humanity, life, and justice.”
The Ukrainian army warned Saturday that Russian forces could also be getting ready for offensive operations within the wider Zaporizhzhia area. Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern army command, mentioned that Russia was amassing personnel on this course.
Ukraine’s air pressure additionally reported that 22 Russian drones have been launched over the nation in a single day. It mentioned that 15 have been shot down in Ukraine’s Sumy, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, and Odesa areas, and that 5 extra have been destroyed utilizing digital defenses. The destiny of the remaining two drones was not specified.
