Kiev/Moscow, Aug 6 (dpa/GNA) – At least 17 people were killed in a heavy Russian missile strike on Kiev and its surroundings, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday, exposing Ukraine’s current inability to intercept ballistic missiles.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia fired 28 ballistic missiles of various types overnight. Not a single projectile was intercepted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned the shortage of air-defence weapons. “Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelensky wrote on social media. “It is very important that our partners understand that delays in supplying them, or an unwillingness to provide anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”
At a meeting with his military leadership, Zelensky said deliveries of missile defence ammunition from abroad had fallen to one third compared with the previous year.
Russia’s Defence Ministry in Moscow described the attack as a mass strike, targeting logistics and distribution centres for military supplies. The Russian military listed the individual facilities hit, including those belonging to logistics companies Nova Post and Epizentr.
Warehouses in the capital Kiev and on its outskirts were struck, primarily in the eastern suburb of Brovary. The FIRMS fire-monitoring system run by the US space agency NASA, recorded fires at these locations.
Eight people were killed in the missile strike at Kvitneva station in Brovary, which lies between several of the targets. “Last night a train was slightly delayed and people didn’t make it to the last train,” Brovary Mayor Vitaliy Bihun said on Ukrainian news television.
A further six people were killed at two distribution centres belonging to the major Ukrainian supermarket chain Silpo. Zelensky also said a total of 44 people had been wounded.
Russia has intensified ballistic missile strikes on Kiev and other cities because Ukraine’s shortage of air-defence ammunition is well known. In July alone, journalists in Kiev counted 11 such attacks.
Most recently, the Russian military struck Kiev with missiles last Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 30.
Russia fired 24 Iskander-M ballistic missiles as well as converted S-400 surface-to-air missiles overnight, Ukrainian sources said on Wednesday.
Ukraine said they were launched in salvoes from the Russian border regions of Bryansk and Kursk, leaving almost no time for advance warning.
Ukraine’s air defences have a notoriously poor interception rate against the short-range Iskander-M missiles. The Russian S-400 missiles, designed to shoot down aircraft, are considered inaccurate when used against ground targets, resulting in high civilian casualties.
Russia also fired four Zircon hypersonic missiles, a weapon developed for use against ships. Of 115 attacking Russian drones of various types, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down 98.
US-made Patriot systems are considered the most effective defence against ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian military has several such systems, including some supplied by Germany. However, Kiev lacks ammunition for them. The war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran has caused a global shortage of Patriot ammunition.
In Kiev, fears are growing that unchecked ballistic missile attacks could once again destroy infrastructure and plunge Ukraine into crisis during the coming winter.
Ukraine in turn struck Russia overnight with large drone swarms, hitting several logistics centres and a refinery. The Russian military said 475 enemy drones had been intercepted, a figure that cannot be independently verified but which points to a massive attack.
A refinery was hit in Ufa, in the Republic of Bashkortostan, roughly 1,500 kilometres from Ukraine. A logistics centre belonging to Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, was also set ablaze in the town of Alexin, south of Moscow, the authorities in the Tula region confirmed.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a restructuring of the military, with logistics troops and other support units to be consolidated under a single command. At a meeting with military leadership, Putin appointed General Valery Solodchuk as head of these rear services. Russian forces have been particularly troubled by Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries and logistics centres deep inside Russian territory, as these significantly hamper supply lines to the front.
The situation has worsened especially on the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Putin also appointed new commanders for the Central and Eastern army groups, which are fighting in the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk region and are tasked with bringing it under Kremlin control.
Putin’s war against Ukraine is now in its fifth year, with his objectives still unmet.
GNA