Russia announced a series of attacks on defense and logistics facilities in Kiev, leading to large explosions in the Ukrainian capital.
Video released by Reuters news agency today shows a Russian ballistic missile crashing into a target in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and causing a series of explosions, some of which were so large that they lit up the city sky.
Ukraine's Air Force Command said Russia attacked the country with 168 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of all types, 8 Kalibr naval cruise missiles, 36 Kh-101, Iskander-K and Kh-59 cruise shells, two Banderol UAV hybrid missiles and an unspecified number of "missiles with ballistic trajectories including Oniks, Zircon, Iskander-M and S-400".
"The main direction of attack was Kiev province. Ukrainian air defense destroyed or disabled 8 Kalibr missiles, 31 Kh-101, Iskander-K and Kh-59 shells, two Banderol shells and 145 UAVs. Russian missiles and UAVs hit 28 locations, debris fell in two areas," the agency said.
AMK Mapping, an account
"Ukraine's Patriot complex fired two PAC-2 or PAC-3 missiles but failed to bring down any targets. Ukrainian air defense continues to be powerless against Iskander-M ballistic missiles and Zircon hypersonic missiles due to the lack of Patriot bullets," this account commented.
On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had conducted a large-scale coordinated raid campaign using high-precision weapons launched from the ground, aircraft and warships, and long-range UAVs targeting a series of defense industrial facilities, transportation and logistics centers, and warehouses in the capital Kiev and the province of the same name.
Among the targets targeted in the capital Kiev are Fire Point's industrial facility, which manufactures components for medium- and long-range UAVs, assembles and stores thrusters for FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, and the factory that manufactures the An-196 Lyuty suicide UAV and other aircraft of the Antonov aviation group.
Russia also targeted the storage and distribution center of UkrSpecSystems, where long- and medium-range UAVs are manufactured, along with an assembly facility for the aviation industry, an ammunition depot containing M-900 thermobaric bombs, anti-tank mines and warheads for heavy drones Baba-Yaga.
In Kiev province, the Martusovka transportation and logistics center was also hit because it was said to be a "dual-use goods distribution" place, serving the production line of suicide UAVs, robotic systems and electronic warfare. The Brovary fuel and lubricants depot, a location with "8,000 m3 of fuel storage for the Ukrainian armed forces", was also attacked.
The Russian army also attacked a series of military supplies warehouses at Chernomorsk and Yuzhny ports in Odessa province.
Satellite data on NASA's Fire Information Resource Management System (FIRMS) shows multiple large fires breaking out at the Antonov plant. According to AMK Mapping, this facility was hit by a series of Iskander-M, Zircon and Kalibr missiles, causing the administrative building to be almost split in half and seriously damaging the structure.
The fuel depot and logistics facility in the city of Brovary appeared to have suffered three attacks by Iskander-M ballistic missiles and another three by Zircon hypersonic missiles.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the Russian raid damaged many residential buildings, killing at least 12 people and injuring 33 people. Kiev Governor Tymur Tkachenko said one person was killed and one injured in the city of Brovary.
Ukrainian officials did not comment on information about defense and fuel facilities being attacked by Russia.
The Romanian Ministry of Defense said that surveillance radar detected many air targets near the Ukrainian border overnight, forcing two Spanish fighters and a Romanian helicopter to launch in readiness to respond. A UAV, of unknown origin, entered Romanian airspace and crashed in an uninhabited area in Tulcea district.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is stepping up its ballistic missile attack campaign against Ukraine. "The world does not always react proportionately to Russia's concentrated attack and escalation. As long as Ukraine does not have enough anti-ballistic missile capabilities, Russia will not seriously consider peace," he said.
On the same day, Ukraine also deployed UAVs to attack Russian territory with the goal of continuing to pressure the neighboring country to negotiate. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 250 Ukrainian UAVs flew towards the Russian capital on the night of August 19 and early this morning, most of which were destroyed remotely. No damage was reported in Moscow.
During the raid on August 17, Ukraine deployed 620 UAVs towards the capital Moscow and the province of the same name, but none of them could get past the Russian air defense belt.
