Officials said that Russian glide bombs as well as drones and ballistic missiles slammed into cities in southern and eastern Ukraine, on Monday. At least six civilians were killed and about 30 injured.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said that Russia recently intensified its strikes in areas that have been tormenting civilians for a long time. This was an apparent attempt to make Ukrainians uneasy and to wear them down so they would not continue waging a war approaching 1,000 days.
Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post that “Russia commits the same terror every day and night.” “Except an increasing number of civilian objects are now targets.”
Russia and Ukraine both await changes in Washington’s policy towards the war when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States in January. The U.S. provides the most military aid to Ukraine, but Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s tens of billions of dollars in aid.
Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian official on Telegram, said that the Ukrainian army plans to expand its mobile unit, which is primarily responsible for shooting down drones in the areas most often targeted by Russian attacks.
He said that Ukraine was working to produce its glide bombs as part of a domestic missile program. The Russian glide bombs are having a significant impact on the battlefield. Their destructive power has reduced settlements to rubble and made it more difficult for Ukrainian forces to hold their defensive fortifications.
The Russian military is pushing back Ukrainian forces in eastern Donetsk, where it has a greater presence. Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will conduct substantial reinforcement’ in the areas around Donetsk settlements Kurakhove & Pokrovsk where Ukraine is at risk of being overrun.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was holding its positions along the border with Russia in Kursk, where Western officials and Ukrainian officials claim that North Korean troops have arrived to help Russia. He claimed that Russia had deployed around 50,000 troops in Kursk.
Vadym Filashkin told reporters, “The Russians also damaged a dam in the Kurakhiv Reservoir, located near the recently captured settlement of Hirnyk.”
He said the local water level of the Vovcha River had risen by 1.2 meters, but no homes were affected. Flooding could threaten both Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, he added.
Filashkin stated that they continue to monitor water levels in the river, and are ready for any changes.
This development brought back memories of the collapse in June 2023 of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine, which killed hundreds of people. According to an investigation by the Associated Press, it is likely that Russian forces were responsible for the collapse.
The frontline of the 1,000 km (600 miles) is close to major Russian cities.
Local authorities reported that Russian drones struck the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, killing five and injuring another woman aged 45. Officials said that around two dozen people sought help for psychological issues following the attack, which damaged homes and stores.
Mykolaiv is located approximately 60 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of the frontline in the Kherson area. It is frequently attacked by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s National Police reported that an overnight attack in Zaporizhzhia also in the South, using three powerful glide-bombs, killed one person, and injured 21 others, including a four-year-old boy.
The strike partially destroyed a 2-story apartment building and also damaged a dorm.
At least eight people were injured when a Russian missile hit a five-story apartment block in Kryvyi Rh, Zelenskyy’s hometown, central Ukraine. Oleksandr Virk, the head of Kryviy Rih Military Administration, said that emergency services were searching for survivors in the rubble.
He said that the missile had destroyed all five floors in one section of the building.
In a separate statement, Ukraine’s Intelligence Agency claimed that it had destroyed a Russian Mi-24 attack helicopter stationed at Klin-5 Airfield in the Moscow Region. This claim was not independently verified.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that 17 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed overnight and during the day over the Russian regions Kursk, Belgorod, and Voronezh.
