In Moscow’s sixth air attack on Kyiv in as many days, Ukrainian air defences downed more than 30 Russian cruise missiles and drones, according to local officials on Friday.

According to top Kyiv official Serhii Popko on Telegram, Iranian-made Shahed drones and cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea simultaneously assaulted the Ukrainian capital from various directions.

According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, the attack left a 68-year-old man and an 11-year-old kid injured, while falling debris also caused damage to homes, sheds, and cars.

A recent wave of attacks on the capital has put people under strain and put Ukraine’s air defences to the test, while Kyiv leaders plan a forthcoming counteroffensive to push back the Kremlin’s forces 15 months after their full-scale invasion.

On 17 days last month, including daytime attacks, Kyiv was the target of drone and missile attacks.

But, a Washington-based think organisation called the Institute for the Study of War warns that Moscow’s plan could go awry.

The air campaign aims to “degrade Ukrainian counteroffensive capabilities, but … the Russian prioritisation of Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign’s ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions,” it said in an assessment late Thursday.

Ukraine’s air defences intercepted all 15 cruise missiles and 21 attack drones, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the country’s chief of staff.

Meanwhile, Russia’s border territories have come under renewed attack from Ukraine.

Previous cross-border raids have also alarmed those Russian regions and placed the Kremlin on high alert.

That could be a Ukrainian strategy to disperse Russian forces before a counteroffensive begins.

“Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to (strengthen) defences in Russia’s border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine,” the UK ministry of defence said on Friday.

Air defense systems shot down “several Ukrainian drones” overnight Thursday in Russia’s southern Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, regional Gov. Roman Starovoit wrote on Telegram.

In the neighbouring Bryansk region, which also borders Ukraine, regional Gov. Alexander Bogomaz said that Ukrainian forces shelled two villages on Friday morning. No casualties were reported.
Two drones also attacked energy facilities in Russia’s western Smolensk region, which borders Belarus, in the early hours of Friday, officials said.

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