Europe 1 with AFP 14:25 pm, March 18, 2023

On the 388th day of the Russian invasion, several Ukrainian regions were the target of nighttime drone attacks. This Saturday, while Chinese leader Xi Jinping is visiting Russia, Vladimir Putin visited Crimea to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the annexation of this Ukrainian peninsula.

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Ukraine, including the Lviv region in the west, was the target of a night attack by Iranian-made drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said Saturday. Russia, which launched an invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago, regularly pounds the country's infrastructure, depriving the population of electricity and water.

Information to remember:

  • Ukraine has been the target of another drone attack
  • Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Russia on Saturday
  • Putin arrived in Crimea on the anniversary of the annexation

"At around 21:00 p.m. on March 17, 2023, Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made suicide attack drones of the Shahed-136/131 type," according to a statement on Telegram. Eleven drones out of 16 were "destroyed", assured the army. The attacks were launched from the Sea of Azov and from Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine to the north, she added.

The region of Lviv (west) was particularly targeted. "Around 01:00 a.m., our region was attacked by Shahed 136 type suicide drones," regional governor Maksym Kozytski said. Three drones were shot down, three others "hit non-residential buildings" in the Yavoriv neighborhood, causing damage but no casualties, he added.

In the southeastern region of Dnipro, three drones were shot down by air defense, regional council chief Mykola Lukashuk said. "Two others hit critical infrastructure in Novomoskovsk," north of Dnipro, causing a fire and "significant" damage, four houses destroyed and six others damaged, but no one was injured, he added.

The drones launched on Kiev were "all" "destroyed" by "our air defense forces", without causing any casualties or damage, said the city administration on social networks.

Putin visits Crimea on annexation anniversary

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, Russian state television said.

On a surprise trip to Sevastopol, home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, Vladimir Putin visited an arts school with the local governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, according to images broadcast by the Rossia-1 television channel.