This week, Russia launched a series of major missile and drone attacks at Ukraine. A Russian missile and drone strike on Monday targeted energy infrastructure across the country. The attack used 127 missiles of various types and 109 Shahed drones. Poland reported a “flying object,” most likely a drone, had entered its airspace during Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine on Monday.
On Tuesday, Russia launched missiles and drones in a second consecutive day of attacks on Ukraine, killing at least six in Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine downed five out of 10 incoming missiles and 60 out of 81 drones.
Ukraine does not aim to annex Russia’s Kursk region, President Zelenskyi told a news conference Tuesday. Russian leader Vladimir Putin will mount a counteroffensive to try to retake territory in the Kursk region captured by Ukrainian troops, but Russian forces will encounter “a difficult fight,” Deputy CIA Director David Cohen said on Wednesday.
Ukraine getting a new domestically-developed ballistic missile free from use restrictions could be a major advance in the country’s long-range strike capabilities, The War Zone said earlier this week. More than 70 per cent of Ukrainians attribute responsibility for the war to all Russians, a poll found.
Ukraine confirms loss of its first F-16 fighter jet.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed on Thursday that an F16 fighter jet crashed on Monday during a mission to repel Russia’s major missile and drone strike on Ukraine. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Oleksiy Mes, was killed in the crash.
“During the approach to the next target, communication with one of the aircraft was lost. As it turned out later, the plane crashed, the pilot died,” the General Staff said in a statement.
Ukraine’s Air Command West said that during his last battle in the sky on August 26, pilot Mes destroyed three cruise missiles and an attack drone. Oleksiy “saved Ukrainians from deadly Russian missiles. Unfortunately, at the cost of his own life,” the command said. Mes was posthumously awarded the rank of Colonel.
