KYIV, June 20 (Reuters) – Russia struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine, including the capital Kiev and the western city of Lviv, early on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine says it shot down 32 of 35 Iranian Shahed drones launched from Russia’s Bryansk region and the Sea of Azov.
But regional governor Maksim Kosydski said a “critically important facility” was hit in Lviv, 70 km (43 miles) from the border with NATO member Poland. He did not disclose any other details about the facility.
No casualties have been reported in recent airstrikes by Moscow since Kyiv launched a counteroffensive that it says has recaptured 113 square km (44 sq mi) of territory from Russian forces.
Air defenses are active over most of Ukraine, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
“However, the main direction of Iranian drone strikes was the Kyiv region. Two dozen Shaheds were destroyed here,” it said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said the drones had hit the Kyiv region in several waves, with the air alert lasting more than four hours. Several commercial and administrative buildings and some private houses were damaged.
[1/5] On June 20, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine, a drone exploded over the city during a Russian drone strike amid Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
Debris from falling drones damaged power lines in the Kyiv region and the Mykolaiv region in the south, knocking out power to hundreds of residents, the Energy Ministry said.
Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat said in a radio interview that a country as large as Ukraine would simply not be covered by air defense systems.
Russia also hit the southeastern industrial city of Zaporizhzhya with Iskander and S-300 missiles, the air force said.
Yury Malashko, the head of the Zaporozhye region’s military administration, said Russia had targeted telecommunications infrastructure and agricultural and agricultural assets.
According to initial reports, Russia fired seven missiles at Zaporizhia, Ukraine’s military said.
A 70-year-old woman was killed and three others wounded in Russian artillery fire in the northeastern region of Sumi, the prosecutor’s office said.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Reporting by Olena Harmash in Kyiv and Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Timothy Heritage
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