The Russian authorities announced that their air defenses had responded to a Ukrainian air attack in the Crimea, at a time when fighting was still intense in the strategic city of Bakhmut.

Meanwhile, while the Israeli Foreign Minister arrived in Kiev.

And the governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvojev, stated that the Russian air defenses responded to an attack by Ukrainian drones over the sea in the Crimea peninsula, which Russia has annexed since 2014.

He added that the Russian air defenses were able to shoot down two Ukrainian drones from it, and continue to confront any attack on the region.

Moscow has repeatedly vowed that its response will be swift and harsh if Crimea and the depth of Russian territory are bombed.

On the other hand, Kiev asserts that Crimea is Ukrainian territory and that the threats of retaliatory strikes by Russian officials are nothing more than an attempt to intimidate.

Bakhmut battles

Also on the ground, the Ukrainian Staff Command stated that the fiercest battles are currently taking place in the city of Bakhmut, north of Donetsk Province in eastern Ukraine.

It added that 15 villages in the vicinity of the city were subjected to heavy Russian bombardment.

In Kharkiv, also in the east of the country, the Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the area was subjected to missile strikes at dawn today, as two explosions were heard in the vicinity of the city, after the warning sirens were sounded.

For his part, the head of the Ukrainian military administration, Oleg Snegobov, confirmed that the Russian forces bombed more than twenty towns and cities in the province during the past 24 hours, which led to the burning and damage to residential homes.

In turn, the city's mayor confirmed that Russian "S-300" missiles targeted the city.

In the city of Lviv, located near the Polish border in the west of the country, the governor of the province accused the Russian forces of bombing vital infrastructure, stressing that the bombing did not result in any casualties.

Lukashenko's statements

In new statements to him, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in a rare meeting with foreign media in Minsk that his country would participate in the fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian forces if it was attacked.

"I am ready to fight with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only in one case: if even one soldier from there (Ukraine) enters our territory with weapons to kill our citizens," Lukashenko said.

During the war in Ukraine, Lukashenko emerged as a strategic ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine accuses Belarus of providing the Russian army with material and technical means and ammunition from its warehouses during the war, and of preparing to launch a joint attack with Moscow against it on the country's northern borders, which Moscow and Minsk deny.

first visit

Meanwhile, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on an official visit, during which he will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitry Kuleba, and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The statement added that the Israeli minister announced the resumption of the work of the Israeli embassy in Kiev.

This is the first visit by an Israeli minister since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine.

Observers describe the visit as provocative to Moscow, which more than once directed direct warnings to Israel not to move forward in selling quality weapons to Ukraine.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen declared that his country "is committed to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"Israel strongly opposes the killing of innocent civilians," Cohen said during a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, after visiting the city of Bucha near Kiev and the Babi Yar monument.

In April 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published pictures that it said were from Bucha, showing dozens of corpses scattered in the streets, accusing the Russian forces that were controlling the town of carrying out executions among the residents, at a time when the United Nations and Western capitals called for an investigation into the massacre, while Moscow denied its responsibility. about her.