This week, the fighting has been raging across the frontlines. Russia has seized control of most of Maryinka, in Donetsk region, but the town is in ruins. Russian forces have also advanced in some areas near Avdiyivka.
New aid pledges for Ukraine have dropped to the lowest levels since January 2022. Ukraine remains hopeful that the U.S. Congress will pass supplemental funding. As of this writing, there has been no decision made. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with a high-level Ukrainian delegation in Washington amid a dispute in Congress. If Congress doesn’t back Ukraine aid, that is going to “open a Pandora’s box of aggression” around the world, Blinken said earlier this week.
Russia launches 19 Kh-101, Kh-555 cruise missiles at Ukraine on Friday morning. Ukraine’s air defences shot down 14 missiles over the region outside Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk region.
Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Colonel Yuriy Ihnat said in televised comments: “[The missiles] were initially flying toward Dnipro. Some of the missiles changed course to Kyiv, while others struck critical infrastructure facilities in Dnipropetrovsk region. Unfortunately, not all the missiles were shot down. Unfortunately, there are reports of one person killed.”
Russia used seven Tu-95 bombers to launch missiles at different regions across the country, the Air Force said in a statement. The missiles were fired from the Saratov region.