Russia, Ukraine exchange strikes amid deadly attack on Kyiv
Damascus, July 19 (SANA)Russia and Ukraine exchanged missile and drone attacks on Sunday, with Ukrainian authorities reporting one person killed and several others injured in a Russian strike on Kyiv, while Ukraine’s military said it had targeted Russian oil tankers during overnight operations.
KyivMayor Vitali Klitschko said the Russian attack triggered fires at a student dormitory, a residential building and a large retail store, while damaging warehouses, administrative buildings and vehicles in several districts of the capital.
Ukraine’s military administration said several warehouses were hit, while AFP reported that five districts of Kyiv came under attack. Rescue operations and damage assessments were continuing.
Ukraine‘s General Staff said its forces struck two Russian oil tankers in theBlack Seaand a floating crane in the Sea of Azov, saying the vessels were being used to supportRussia‘s military operations.
The military also reported 249 combat engagements with Russian forces along the front line over the previous 24 hours. It said Ukrainian air force, missile and artillery units struck a command post, five concentrations of Russian personnel, seven drone control sites and another high-value military target.
In the Pokrovsk sector, Ukrainian forces said they repelled 33 Russian assaults near several settlements.
Meanwhile, Russian media reported continued advances by Russian forces in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, saying troops had taken control of the settlement of Volokhovske and launched operations to capture the nearby village of Zakharivka.
Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian troops were advancing along a broad section of the front within the area of what Moscow calls its “special military operation.” He said the settlement of Myrne had come under Russian control and that operations to secure the settlements of Shevchenko, Krasnoyarske and Svitle were nearing completion.
The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, continues to see heavy missile, drone and ground attacks, while international efforts to broker a political settlement have made little progress.