Ukraine said it shot down six Russian Kinjal hypersonic missiles overnight, countering a weapon Moscow has touted as an almost unstoppable, state-of-the-art hypersonic missile. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its missiles destroyed a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system during an attack on Ukraine, the Zvezda military news station reported. Two US officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the Patriot anti-missile defense system used by Ukrainian forces likely suffered some damage in the Russian attack but was not destroyed.

Highlights of the war in Ukraine, day 448, LIVETEXT:

01:30Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his message on Tuesday evening: “Out of 18 missiles, 18 were shot down. I thank all partners who helped our country with proper air defense systems. We have a good start for the aircraft coalition”

The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday evening confirmed that all 18 missiles that Russia sent to Kyiv on the night of Monday to Tuesday were shot down by Ukrainian air defense, and on this occasion he thanked the Western partners who provided the relevant equipment, expressing – and confidence that Ukraine will also receive planes, having “successfully started” discussions on this matter with the leaders of Great Britain, France and the Netherlands.

00:26Prigozhin shows the body of an alleged American soldier

IN image As he published on his Telegram channel, the head of Wagner’s mercenaries showed on Tuesday the lifeless body of a man whom he recognized as an American citizen who fought in Bakhmut with Ukrainian troops, presenting an identity document that appeared to be American.

“We hand him over to the United States, we put him in a coffin covered with an American flag, with respect, because he did not die in his bed like his grandfather, but died in the war, probably with dignity,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a message voiced by the EFE agency. quoted by Agerpres.

A brief summary of recent events:

• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte have pledged to form an “international coalition” to equip Ukraine with fighter jets and support “everything from training to buying F16s,” the prime minister’s spokesman said Sunaka Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots, but ruled out sending fighter jets to Kyiv.
• Ukraine stated that among the downed missiles were six Kinzhal air-based ballistic missiles. “Air defense activity was extremely successful. Six Kinjals is an impressive figure in that regard,” Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said. The Kinjal, which means “dagger” in Russian, is one of six “new generation” weapons unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2018, when the Russian leader boasted that it could not be shot down by any of the world’s air defense systems.
• “Overnight, air defense units of the Southern Operational Command destroyed four Russian Kalibr cruise missiles launched from the Black Sea, from the sea to the shore,” the governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaly Kim, said.
• The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack destroyed the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile defense system with a Kinjal hypersonic missile, the military newspaper Zvezda reported.
• The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in its daily morning briefing that Russian troops are concentrating their main efforts in the direction of the eastern front-line cities of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka and Maryinka. Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar reported that Ukrainian troops have achieved victories around the city of Bakhmut in recent days, but Russian troops have made little progress even in the eastern city.
• The Ukrainian military on Monday hailed the offensive around Bakhmut as its first successful counterattack in the battle to break the Russian siege of the eastern city. Russia launched 80 artillery strikes on the Ukrainian Kherson region, including 14 on the city of Kherson. Six people, including a child, were injured as a result of the shelling of a residential area, Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Regional State Administration, said.
• Ways to hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine, including tracking casualties and damage caused by Moscow’s forces, were at the center of debate as European leaders met in Iceland on Tuesday for a two-day summit.
• G7 leaders plan to tighten sanctions against Russia at a summit this week in Japan, officials said.
• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to accept a mission from African leaders on a potential peace plan for the conflict.
• The Kremlin said questions remained about the Russian part of the Black Sea grain deal and that it would have to make a decision on its renewal.

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The events of Tuesday, the 447th day of the war, were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro