While Russia continued to bombard Ukraine with hundreds of drones overnight as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has shattered expectations for a breakthrough in attempts to end the more than three-year-old war, Ukraine said it hit a Russian air base on Saturday.
The Borisoglebsk air facility in Russia’s Voronezh area was hit by Ukrainian forces, according to Ukraine’s military General Staff. The air base is home to Russia’s Su-34, Su-35S, and Su-30SM fighter jets.
The General Staff claimed in a Facebook post that it struck a facility that held glide bombs, a training aircraft, and possibly other aircraft.
Russian officials refrained from commenting on the strike right away.
Attacks like this against Russian air bases are intended to undermine Russia’s military might and show that Ukraine can strike important targets in Russia. In a surprise drone strike last month, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed around 40 Russian aircraft that were based at multiple airfields deep into Russian territory.
According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia sent 322 drones and decoys into Ukraine overnight and into Saturday. Of them, 135 were lost, most likely because to electronic jamming, and 157 were shot down.
The attack’s primary objective, according to the air force, was the western Khmelnytskyi region of Ukraine. Serhii Tyurin, the regional governor, stated on Saturday that there had been no reports of damage, injuries, or fatalities.
Russia’s long-range assaults on Ukraine have been increasing. In what was the biggest aerial attack since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started, waves of drones and missiles targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, announced on Saturday that the assault’s death toll had risen to two. Thirty-one more were injured.
Following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement on Friday that he had a highly significant and fruitful phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, there was a new round of attacks.
According to a statement by Zelenskyy, the two leaders talked about potential collaborative weapons manufacture between the U.S. and Ukraine, ways to bolster Ukrainian air defenses, and larger U.S.-led efforts to resolve the war with Russia.
When reporters questioned Trump about the call on Friday night, he responded, “I think we had a very good call.”
Trump answered, “I don’t know,” in response to a question about how to put an end to the bloodshed. I am unable to predict if it will occur or not.
Some military aid supplies to Ukraine, including vital air defense missiles, have been halted by the United States. The primary European allies of Ukraine are thinking about how they can help fill the gap. Although scaling up will take time, Zelenskyy said efforts are underway to expand Ukraine’s domestic weaponry sector.
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, it shot down 30 further Ukrainian drones on Saturday morning and 94 more drones overnight into Saturday. Local officials in the Saratov region said that Ukrainian drones destroyed 25 apartments in the city of Engels, but no casualties were reported. ___
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