(Dan Tri) – Ukraine announced that it shot down all 13 Russian cruise missiles in a raid on a military airport in the West.
Russian Tu-95 bomber (Photo: Reuters).
`All 13 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles were shot down by air defense forces, mostly in the Khmelnytskyi area,` the Ukrainian air force announced today, June 23.
Ukraine’s military said Russia launched missiles from four Tu-95MS strategic bombers near the Caspian Sea overnight.
Ukraine’s air defense forces also shot down an `unidentified` reconnaissance drone.
Previously, Ukraine announced that the Russian military conducted a missile attack on a Ukrainian air base in Khmelnitsky province on May 29.
The Tu-95 is a strategic bomber using four turboprop engines capable of carrying strategic missiles most successfully and with the longest service life ever built by the Tupolev Design Institute in the Soviet Union.
The Ukrainian army today announced that its military forces have attacked two areas on the southern front.
`In the direction of Novodanylivka – Robotyne and Mala Tokmachka – Novofedorivka, Ukrainian forces have achieved a number of successful advances and are holding firmly in the border areas,` said Andriy Kovalov, spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
According to Mr. Kovalov, the Ukrainian army continues to conduct offensive operations in the direction of the city of Melitopol and the controlled port of Berdiansk in the south.
Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar announced that on the Eastern front, the Ukrainian army stopped Russia’s advance towards the cities of Kupyansk and Lyman.
`In the direction of Kupyansk and Lyman, our defense forces stopped the enemy’s advance,` Ms. Maliar said.
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Directorate of the General Directorate of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said that in the next 2-3 months, Ukraine will deploy both offensive and defensive military operations for Ukraine’s strategic goal of `solving
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Kiev launched a long-awaited counteroffensive campaign on June 4, deploying several brigades equipped with American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and German-made Leopard tanks to attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted this week that Kiev’s counteroffensive was going `slower than desired`.