Ukrainian military intelligence reported the destruction of Russian missiles in the Crimean city of Jankoy, without claiming responsibility, while the Russian-backed governor of Crimea announced that air defenses had repelled a Ukrainian drone attack last night.

Crimean Governor Sergei Aksinov said air defenses repelled the attack and left a civilian injured when the wreckage of a Ukrainian drone fell on his home in Jankoy.

Jankoy Governor Igor Evin was also quoted as saying the city had been attacked by drones and that a 33-year-old man had been taken to hospital after being hit by shrapnel from a downed drone.

TASS quoted Evin as telling Crimea-24 television that a house, a school and a grocery store caught fire, and the power grid was damaged.

For its part, the intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a post on its website that an explosion in the city of Jankoy (northern Crimea) destroyed Russian Kalibr-NK cruise missiles while transporting them by rail.

The missiles, designed to be launched from surface ships of the Russian Black Sea fleet, have an operational range of more than 2500,375 kilometers on land and <> kilometers at sea, it said.

Ukrainian military intelligence did not say Kiev was responsible for the missile destruction, but offered a hint that it was a continuation of the process of "demilitarizing Russia and preparing Ukraine's Crimea to end the occupation."

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 in a move rejected by Kiev and Western powers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to regain all Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, including Crimea.


Western Military Aid

In Kiev, senior officials welcomed the announcement of new military aid from the European Union and the United States.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov confirmed that the European Union would provide the Ukrainian army with one million 155mm artillery shells.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that "the EU's immediate and continued support for us in the face of Russian aggression will be a game-changer."

In the same context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily message via a video clip on Monday evening, "It is expected that the delivery of aid will take place quickly as well as the production of ammunition," noting that "this is a strategic step."

Zelenskiy said the EU would spend 2 billion euros ($14.12 billion) to supply Ukraine with <> million new artillery shells over the next <> months to fight Russia.

He said the United States, in turn, would provide a new $350 million defense assistance package to buy new weapons and ammunition.

Zelensky said such support would "reinforce our conviction that we are united, that moving towards victory (...) It is unstoppable."


Kishida visits Kiev

On the other hand, Tokyo announced that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will arrive in Kiev on Tuesday and convey to President Zelensky "his respect for the courage and perseverance of the Ukrainian people (...) It will also express solidarity and continued support for Ukraine from Japan and the Group of Seven," according to a statement issued by the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Kishida is the only Group of Seven leader who has not visited Ukraine since the Russian war there began in February 2022. Japan is hosting this year's Group of Seven meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the United States, Britain, France and Germany cannot act as a mediator for peace in Ukraine, because they are countries involved in the conflict with Russia on Ukrainian territory.

The position of the Russian Foreign Ministry came in response to the call of former Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, to establish a contact group on Ukraine in order to launch the peace process, which includes the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow knew nothing about the initiative officially and had learned about it from the press.

She added that the aforementioned countries imposed illegal sanctions on Russia and demanded the establishment of a court to punish the Russian leadership, in addition to blackmailing Russia's friends and preventing them from cooperating with it, as she put it.

Those countries support Zelensky's "bogus" peace initiatives, which are "demands for Russia's surrender incommunicado," the ministry said.