Open in full screen mode Residents of Kiev took refuge in the metro, March 24, 2024, to escape a third night of intense Russian bombing on Ukraine. Agency France-Presse Ukraine said Sunday it had struck two Russian ships in annexed Crimea, a claim that comes after a third night of intense Russian bombardment. Moscow aims to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure and claims to respond with these serial strikes to Ukrainian bombings of border regions, which, themselves, are in response to the daily attacks Russia has inflicted on Ukrainians since its invasion began on February 24, 2022. The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 18 of 29 missiles and 25 of 28 explosive drones launched overnight. Damage was noted to urban, energy and port infrastructure in Kiev, as well as in the regions of Lviv (west), Kryvyï Rig (center) and in the Danube area (southwest). The damage appears much less severe than that of Friday, when Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, in the northeast, on the border with Russia, was left without electricity, #x27;water and heating.
A Ukrainian soldier inspects the debris of a Kh-55 cruise missile intercepted in Kiev and which fell in a park during an intense Russian bombardment , March 24, 2024.
War in Ukraine
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For its part, Ukraine launched strikes on Sevastopol, in Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014, and seat of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. The latter was considerably weakened by multiple missile and drone attacks.
Kiev claimed on Sunday to have hit two other ships, which sank numerous ships since the start of the war, a humiliation for Russia which had to abandon the blockade of the coasts still under Ukrainian control.
The Ukrainian armed forces managed to hit the Yamal and Azov amphibious ships, as well as a communications center and other infrastructure of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, the communications center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced in a statement.
Russia said on Saturday evening that it had repelled a massive Ukrainian missile attack targeting Sevastopol. According to initial information, more than ten missiles were shot down, Governor Mikhail Razvojaev said on Telegram.
He then specified that the debris of x27;a missile shot down killed a 65-year-old civilian. Four people were injured, including a teenager.
A Russian cruise missile launched against towns in western Ukraine also violated Polish airspace overnight for around 40 seconds, the Russian air force said on Sunday. Polish army.
The object flew into Polish space near the village of Oserdow, located a hundred kilometers from Lviv, said the operational command of the armed forces.
Poland, Ukraine's ally, will demand explanations from Russia for this new airspace violation, its diplomacy said. A similar incident took place in December.
Ukraine, which has been facing the Russian invasion and daily bombing of its cities for more than two years, has promised to respond by bringing the fighting to Russian soil, while the Kremlin has long presented his war as not affecting the population or Russian soil.
A missile explodes in the sky above Kiev on March 24, 2024.
Kiev also wants to regain control of its airspace in 2024 so that Russia will no longer be able to bomb it like this. But for this, Ukraine has a crucial need for anti-aircraft defense assets.
However, American aid has been blocked for months by the rivalry between the Democratic camp of President Joe Biden, in favor of increased support, and that of Donald Trump's Republicans. European assistance has fallen behind schedule.
Ukraine also needs artillery ammunition and missiles on the front where it has struggled, since the failure of its major counter-offensive in the summer of 2023, to contain the better-equipped Russian army, Vladimir Putin having focused his budget and the country's industry towards the war effort.
The Russian army has in recent days claimed advances in the east, in the sectors of Tchassiv Iar, an important locality neighboring Bakhmut, and in west of Avdiïvka, a town destroyed and conquered by the Russians in February.
Finally, Ukraine fears an escalation from Moscow, the Russian authorities citing a Ukrainian lead in the investigation into the attack against a concert hall which left at least 133 dead. The Russian president and his special services have not made the slightest mention of the claim of the Islamic State jihadists.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thus accused Putin and the other bastards of seeking to place the blame on Ukraine which, from the first hours of the attack, had denied any involvement.