KYIV, June 4 (Reuters) – Russia launched a wave of air attacks on Ukraine early on Sunday, with air defence systems repelling all missiles and drones on their approach to Kyiv, the capital’s military officials said.
“According to preliminary information, not a single air target reached the capital,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday.
“Air defence destroyed everything that was heading towards the city already at their distant approaches.”
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Kyiv since May, chiefly at night, ahead of a long-expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim territory, in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to inflict psychological distress on civilians.
Reuters witnesses reported hearing several blasts in the Kyiv region, but not in the city, from what sounded like air defence systems hitting targets.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for nearly three hours.
There were unverified Ukrainian social media reports of blasts heard in Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, near the central city of Kropyvnitskyi and in the northeastern region of Sumy. There was no immediate official information about the reports.
(Reporting by Gleb Garanich in Kyiv and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and William Mallard)
Drone shot down in Crimea’s Dzhankoi, says Moscow-installed official
June 4 (Reuters) – A drone was shot down in Dzhankoi in Crimea, a Russian-installed official in the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, said on Sunday.
“There is damage to windows in several houses in a residential district” from the overnight incident, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser in the Moscow-installed administration of Crimea, posted on the Telegram messaging app.
“All services are working. Official information – in the morning,” he said.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Russia has a military air base near Dzhankoi. Ukrainian officials have long said the city and surrounding areas have been turned into Moscow’s largest military base in Crimea.
Air defence systems engaged in repelling air attacks in Kyiv – Ukrainian officials
KYIV, June 4 (Reuters) – Air defence systems were engaged in the early hours of Sunday in repelling air attacks near Kyiv, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said on the Telegram messaging channel.
Reuters’ witnesses reported that there were several blasts heard in the Kyiv region from what sounded like air defence systems hitting targets.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts.
(Reporting by Gleb Garanich in Kyiv and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard)
