The unmanned missile raid on Ukraine carried out by Russia on the night of Thursday to Friday was aimed at the reserve units of the Ukrainian army in order to prevent them from moving to the front line, given the counteroffensive that the Ukrainian army is preparing. This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, which is quoted by Reuters.

In Kharkiv, three Russian missiles were spotted, fired over Ukraine from the Belgorod region of the Russian FederationPhoto: Vadim Belikov / AP / Profimedia

“At night, the Russian Air Force carried out a missile strike with the use of long-range, high-precision weapons against the points of temporary deployment of reserve units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” said a spokesman at a briefing at the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Ihor Konashenkov’s defense, Agerpres notes.

“The aim of the raid has been achieved. All intended targets were hit. The advance of the enemy’s reserves into the area of ​​hostilities was disrupted,” said a Russian official.

For its part, the Ukrainian army claims to have shot down 21 out of 23 X-101/X-555 missiles and two drones. The missiles were launched around 04:00 by Tu-95 strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea area.

The military administration in Kyiv said that 11 Russian cruise missiles and two drones were shot down over the capital, and there were no casualties or significant damage.

But there are victims and damages in other cities, especially in the city of Uman in the center of the country, where a residential building was hit, the preliminary balance of victims among the civilian population after this raid on the whole of Ukraine was 19 dead.

Russia denies that it is targeting populated areas, but fragments of its missiles, shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft aircraft, fall precisely in such areas and therefore cause casualties among the civilian population.

Since the October attack on the Crimean bridge, which it attributed to Ukrainian intelligence services, Russia has regularly launched missile and drone strikes, mostly targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

These mass raids, during which the Russian military used dozens of missiles, have become less frequent in recent months.

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