Today, Russia announced the firing of bursts of hypersonic "Kinjal" missiles at targets in Ukraine as part of a wave of bombing, which is the widest in weeks, while the Ukrainian army revealed its strategy in the city of Bakhmut, which the Russian forces announced to be close to total control over.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its forces fired more than 80 missiles at dawn today, at targets from eastern to western Ukraine and from north to south.

The ministry said the bombing was a retaliation for what it says was an infiltration operation carried out by Ukrainian militants last week in the Bryansk border region, which killed two people.

Kiev denied the Russian accusations, and said that what happened may have been the result of an internal conflict in Russia.

The Ministry of Defense also said that its missile attacks destroyed sites for Ukrainian drones, and thwarted arms transfers to Ukraine, confirming the use of hypersonic "Kinjal" missiles.

Kyiv confirms

For his part, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuri Ignat, said that Russia used different types of missiles in the bombing that affected large areas of the country, adding that the Russian forces launched 6 "Kingal" missiles in one attack for the first time since the start of the war on February 24. 2022..

The first time that this missile was announced against Ukraine was on March 18, 2022, less than a month after the start of the war.

The Russian "Kinzhal" missile is an air ballistic missile, with old technology that has existed since approximately 1980. A hypersonic glide vehicle is pushed off a missile to a high altitude and then slides towards its target, maneuvering along the way.

A victim of the Russian bombing of the city of Lviv, western Ukraine (Reuters)

tough night

Commenting on the Russian attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country had a difficult night, adding that the Russians had launched 81 missiles in an attempt to intimidate the Ukrainians, as he put it.

Zelinsky explained that the attacks targeted infrastructure and housing facilities in 10 regions, and resulted in casualties.

The Ukrainian army said that it shot down dozens of missiles, in addition to 4 out of 8 drones, which it said were Iranian-made, of the "Shahid" model.

While Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal said that the Russian missile attack caused damage to power generation and distribution facilities in 8 regions of Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denied that the bombing targeted any military installations.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, the Russian strikes targeted infrastructure facilities, including power generators, power stations, and transportation facilities in several regions, from Kharkiv in the east to Lviv in the west, and from Kiev in the north to Odessa in the south, killing at least 8 civilians.

The Ukrainian energy company confirmed that the Russian bombing caused a power outage at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear plant, but later confirmed the resumption of power supply to the station.


A war of attrition in Bakhmut

In the developments on the eastern front, the Ukrainian forces are seeking to wage a "war of attrition" for the Russian forces in the city of Bakhmut, which is located in the north of Donetsk canton in the Donbass region, and is witnessing fierce battles.

And after the Ukrainian leadership decided two days ago to continue fighting despite the advance of the Russian Wagner forces and their control of parts of the city, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, General Oleksandr Sersky, revealed the strategy of his forces in Bakhmut, which is based on inflicting the greatest losses on the Russian forces.

Sersky said that every day of the defense of Bakhmut allows the Ukrainian forces to prepare reserves and prepare for the upcoming offensive operations.

On the other hand, the commander of the Russian military Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said today that his forces have fully taken control of the town of Dubova Vasilievka in the vicinity of Bakhmut, a day after he confirmed that his forces had fully taken control of the eastern part of the city.

The Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg warned yesterday that the city of Bakhmut might fall within days at the hands of the Russian forces.

Accusations of planning an attack

On the other hand, the Ukrainian security services today accused the so-called People's Republic of Transdniestria of preparing for a "terrorist attack" inside this separatist region located inside Moldova, in which Russian forces are deployed.

And the Ukrainian security services described the statements of officials in the separatist region as false and as "a pure provocation by the Kremlin."