At least 21 killed as Ukraine and Russia continue to trade attacks
Strikes target Ukrainian defence industry event, Russia’s Kirov, and more Wildberries warehouses.
At least 15 people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine, while Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Kirov region killed six, officials on both sides of the conflict said.
A Russian missile attack killed ten people and wounded over 100 at a Ukrainian defence industry event in the Kyiv region on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Several killed as Ukraine, Russia trade attacks deep behind the front line
- list 2 of 3What are the security implications of the US-Saudi nuclear deal?
- list 3 of 3Has Russia helped Iran target CIA sites in the Gulf?
The targeting of government, military and defence industry leaders provoked criticism of the event and the security implications.
“An investigation will establish who made the decision to hold the event… and whether the risks were properly assessed under martial law,” prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko said as he announced a criminal inquiry.
Earlier, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the city and called on residents to stay in shelters as air defence systems were operating.
Vadym Filashkin, the governor of Sloviansk, said five people were killed and nine injured as Moscow dropped two aviation bombs on the city.
“Russians attack our cities daily – and for the second day in a row – their attacks have led to numerous casualties in Sloviansk,” Filashkin said. “I call on everyone who is still near the front line: evacuate.”
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine said: “It’s quite irregular for Russian attacks, especially ballistic ones, to take place during the daytime hours so this marks something new”.
In southern Mykolaiv region, a Russian drone attack on port infrastructure damaged two civilian vessels, acting regional governor Heorhii Reshetilov said on Telegram. No one was injured.
Russia also claimed to have taken control of the villages of Zakharivka and Ivashchyne in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and said Russian forces had struck 27 vessels used by the Ukrainian military in the past week.
“We’re getting reports from certain Telegram channels and officials that another massive attack could be imminent in the coming several days,” MacAlpine said. “These ballistic threats on cities around Ukraine have been escalating over the summer and show no signs of slowing down.”
Ukrainian attacks on Russia
At the same time, in Russia’s Kirov region on Friday, six people were killed and 26 injured in a Ukrainian missile attack on a factory, the regional governor, Alexander Sokolov, said.
A warehouse for the Russian e-commerce giant, Wildberries, was also hit as Kyiv continues its attacks on the retail giant’s warehouses.
Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim said the latest attacks had targeted warehouses in Saint Petersburg, in the surrounding Leningrad region and in Simferopol, the main city in Crimea.
“We managed to save some of the premises and goods. I would like to thank our staff, our heroes – a swift evacuation was carried out at all warehouses,” Kim said in a statement.
“According to preliminary reports, there were no casualties.
“All of our efforts are now focused on redistributing goods across our warehouses to ensure more efficient stock turnover and the economic stability of our partners,” she said.
Still, Zelenskyy hailed the strikes and said in a post on social media that the operation against Russian logistics “remains under way”, calling the attacks “successful”.
As of Friday’s attack, Wildberries warehouses have been targeted four times since last weekend.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, it shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight, in one of the largest barrages sent by Kyiv as it increases long-range strikes.
The ministry said that the attacks had targeted more than a dozen Russian regions and the annexed Crimea region.
Reports on Friday afternoon said that Zelenskyy will meet with United States President Donald Trump next Tuesday.
The Ukrainian leader will hope to persuade Trump to raise US support for Ukraine, especially regarding air defence capabilities, which remain a weak point.
Trump recently agreed to grabt Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot air defence systems. The pledge marked an important shift as Trump recently has adopted a more positive tone towards Zelenskyy.
“Missiles for Patriot systems are the number one priority,” Zelenskyy said as he reported the attack.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv with senior representatives of Raytheon, the US company that makes Patriot systems. It was not reported if Raytheon was at the defence event hit by the Russian missiles.
