Russia
Russia launches the biggest aerial barrage of the war and kills 30 civilians, Ukraine says
Russia launched 122 missiles and dozens of drones against Ukrainian targets, officials said Friday, killing at least 30 civilians across the country in what an air force official called the biggest aerial barrage of the war.
At least 144 people were wounded and an unknown number were buried under rubble during the roughly 18-hour onslaught, Ukrainian officials said. A maternity hospital, apartment blocks and schools were among the buildings reported damaged across Ukraine.
In the capital, Kyiv, broken glass and mangled metal littered city streets. Air raid and emergency service sirens wailed as plumes of smoke drifted into a bright blue sky.
Kateryna Ivanivna, a 72-year-old Kyiv resident, said she threw herself to the ground when a missile struck.
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"There was an explosion, then flames," she said. "I covered my head and got down in the street. Then I ran into the subway station."
Meanwhile, in Poland, authorities said that what apparently was a Russian missile had entered the country's airspace Friday morning from the direction of Ukraine and then vanished off radars.
In the attack on Ukraine, the air force intercepted most of the ballistic and cruise missiles and the Shahed-type drones overnight, said Ukraine's military chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
Western officials and analysts had recently warned that Russia limited its cruise missile strikes for months in an apparent effort to build up stockpiles for massive strikes during the winter, hoping to break the Ukrainians' spirit.
The result was "the most massive aerial attack" since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channel. It topped the previous biggest assault, in November 2022 when Russia launched 96 missiles, and this year's biggest, with 81 missiles on March 9, according to air force records.
Fighting along the front line is largely bogged down by winter weather after Ukraine's summer counteroffensive failed to make a significant breakthrough along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) line of contact.
Ukrainian officials have urged the country's Western allies to provide it with more air defenses. Their appeals have come as signs of war fatigue strain efforts to keep support in place.
The U.N. Security Council hastily convened later Friday to discuss the attack, which Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari called "appalling."
"Tragically, 2023 is ending as it began — with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine," he said, and noted that international humanitarian law forbids attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure.
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President Joe Biden said in a statement that the bombardment shows Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped, "but unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people. Congress must step up and act."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the attack should stir the world to further action in support of Ukraine.
"These widespread attacks on Ukraine's cities show Putin will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of eradicating freedom and democracy," Sunak said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "We must continue to stand with Ukraine — for as long as it takes."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Russia's attack "in the strongest terms" and said attacks against civilians are unacceptable and must end immediately, according to a statement.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the scale of the attack should wake people up to Ukraine's continuing needs.
"Today, millions of Ukrainians awoke to the loud sound of explosions," he wrote on X. "I wish those sounds of explosions in Ukraine could be heard all around the world. In all major capitals, headquarters, and parliaments, which are currently debating further support for Ukraine."
In Kyiv, the bombardment damaged a subway station that lies across the street from a factory belonging to the Artem company, which produces components for various military-grade missiles. Officials did not say whether the factory was directly hit.
Overall, the attack hit six cities, and reports of deaths and damage came in from across the country. Several dozen missiles were launched towards Kyiv, with more than 30 intercepted, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration. Eight people were killed there, officials said.
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In Boyarka, near Kyiv, the debris of a shot-down drone fell on a home and started a fire. Andrii Korobka, 47, said his mother was sleeping next to the room where the wreckage landed and was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
"The war goes on, and it can happen to any house, even if you think yours will never be affected," Korobka said.
Tetiana Sakhnenko lives next door and said neighbors ran with buckets of water to put out the blaze, but it spread quickly. "It's so scary," she said.
In the eastern city of Dnipro, four maternity hospital patients were rescued from a fire, five people were killed and 20 injured, officials said.
In Odesa, on the southern coast, falling drone wreckage started a fire at a multistory residential building, according to the regional head, Oleh Kiper. Two people were killed and 15, including two children, were injured, he said.
The mayor of the western city of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, said one person was killed there, with three schools and a kindergarten damaged in a drone attack. Local emergency services said 30 people were injured.
In northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city was subjected to at least three waves of aerial attacks that included S-300 and Kh-21 missile launches. One person was killed and at least nine injured, officials said.
Russia says US Ambassador met with opposition leader in Dhaka to discuss plans for anti-govt protest
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said at the end of October US Ambassador to Dhaka Peter Haas met with a member of the local opposition party to discuss plans for organising anti-government rallies.
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"Such actions amount to nothing less than gross interference in internal affairs," she said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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"We have repeatedly highlighted the attempts by the US and its allies to influence the internal political processes in Bangladesh under the guise of ensuring that the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country are transparent and inclusive."
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The journalists drew attention to the US Embassy in Dhaka, but no comment is made yet by the Embassy Spokesperson in Dhaka regarding the comment by the Russian official.
Russian national people's unity day celebrated in Dhaka
National Unity Day is one of the most important dates celebrated in Russia and is especially celebrated by all Russians around the world.
Similarly, Russian House in Dhaka organized the day with the Jahura Kamal Ideal School of Dhaka.
Director of the Russian House in Dhaka Pavel Dvoychenkov welcomed everyone and talked about the historical significance of the day.
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He said that Unity Day, also known as People's Unity or National Unity Day, is a national holiday in Russia that falls on November 4.
On this day, great patriotic celebrations are held in all Russian cities with entertainment programs, concerts, school performances, and fireworks. Several fairs and festivals accompany the celebration. Recently, this day has been a symbol of unity to protect the motherland.
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Even after 400 years, this date is remembered. Unity means strength and victory.
The students at the school participated in a master class on Russia, and later many students participated in a drawing competition on the same subject, of which three were declared winners and presented with certificates and attractive prizes. At the end of the ceremony, everyone puts their handprints in different colors on a large white canvas to express solidarity with the day.
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The program was also attended by the principal of the Jahura Kamal Ideal School of Dhaka Khayrun Nessa Shyamoli, the headmaster Abdus Sattar as well as the teachers and parents.
Everyone, including the school students, thoroughly enjoyed the program and pledged to participate in other activities of the Russian House in Dhaka.
Drones target 6 regions in biggest attack on Russia since troops sent to Ukraine, officials say
Russian officials accused Ukraine of targeting six Russian regions with drones early Wednesday in what appears to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine 18 months ago.
Drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region and started a massive fire there, the governor and local media reported. More drones were shot down over Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan, Kaluga and the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, according to the Defense Ministry.
The strike in Pskov hit an airport in the region's namesake capital and damaged four Il-76 transport aircraft, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
Pskov regional Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the airport canceled Wednesday so damage could be assessed during daylight.
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Footage and images posted on social media showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there were no casualties, and the fire has been contained. Unconfirmed media reports said between 10 and 20 drones could have attacked the airport.
Pskov was the only region where officials reported damage. Three drones were shot down over the Bryansk region, according to the Russian military, and two over the Oryol region, its Gov. Andrei Klychkov said. Two were downed over the Ryazan region, one more over Kaluga, and one more over the Moscow region, officials said.
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No damage or casualties were registered in those regions, although some Russian media cited residents of the Bryansk region as saying that they heard a loud explosion.
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Also on early Wednesday, Russian-installed officials in the annexed Crimea reported repelling an attack of drones targeting the harbor of the port city of Sevastopol. Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozzhayev said it wasn't immediately clear how many of the drones have been destroyed. It wasn't immediately clear if the attack caused any damage.
BRICS: China, Russia and other emerging economies turn to main summit agenda in South Africa
Leaders of some of the developing world’s most important economies turned Wednesday to the main business of their summit in South Africa, a day after a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the gathering an anti-Western tinge that officials had been hoping to avoid.
The BRICS group of emerging economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are debating whether to expand their bloc and allow in new members more than a decade after it came into existence.
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More than 20 countries have formally applied to join the group, officials say, with Saudi Arabia one of the most significant.
Four of the bloc’s leaders are in Johannesburg for the group’s first in-person meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Putin is not attending after an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for him over the war in Ukraine complicated his travel to South Africa, but he was participating virtually.
The Russian leader used a 17-minute pre-recorded speech aired on the opening day of the summit on Tuesday to lambast the West over the war in Ukraine and the financial sanctions placed on Russia as punishment for its invasion.
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He said a critical deal allowing Ukraine to move grain out of its Black Sea ports that Russia halted last month would not be reinstated unless Russian conditions are met.
In the buildup to the three days of talks in Johannesburg, BRICS officials had pushed back at suggestions the bloc was taking an anti-Western turn under the influence of Russia and China. Putin’s address put the deteriorating geopolitical climate at the center of the gathering.
Xi added to that in a speech that was read out by a Chinese government minister and alluded to the U.S.-China economic friction and warned of the “abyss of a new Cold War.”
Xi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa began talks over dinner at a luxury estate in suburban Johannesburg on Tuesday night, officials said, ahead of the summit’s main day of discussions on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov represented Russia in person, while Putin also participated in those dinner discussions virtually.
There appears to be momentum for expansion, with all five leaders backing the move in principle, although the exact criteria new members might need to meet to join must still be ironed out.
BRICS is a consensus-based organization and all five member countries must agree before any expansion.
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The bloc has sometimes failed to put into action any coherent policy, largely because of the disparate economic and political priorities of its members and the increasing rivalry between China and India - the globe’s most populous countries and the developing world’s economic powerhouses.
Alongside expansion, there’s also talk by the BRICS members of adopting a broad economic policy that seeks a move away from U.S. dollar-based trade within the bloc.
The group’s stated intention to move away from the world’s dominant currency won’t take down the dollar overnight — and it’s yet to see any concrete agreements to implement the idea.
According to calculations by Federal Reserve researchers, 96% of trade in the Americas from 1999 to 2019 was invoiced in dollars, and 74% of trade in Asia. Everywhere else outside Europe, 79% of trade was done in dollars, underlining its status as the world’s de facto currency.
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Still, the dominant dollar is one of a growing number of gripes in the developing world. Many in the Global South also view international institutions like the U.N., the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as not serving their interests.
China and Russia are more than happy to take advantage of that sentiment for their own agendas, analysts say. But they also note that the fact that more than 20 developing-world countries have applied to join BRICS and at least another 20 have expressed interest shows some of the bloc’s talk of an unfair global setup has hit home with many.
“Whatever the achievements of the BRICS bloc, its very existence and the queue of developing economies trying to join show a much broader unhappiness in the Global South with the current global order,” said Cobus van Staden of the China Global South Project, which tracks China’s engagement with developing world countries. “Whether that unhappiness will cause them to rally around China is a different issue.”
Internet stunned by Russian cat as tall as a four-year-old child
A cat's size is making headlines on social media. Yulina Minina, who lives in Russia's Belgorod area, has the feline as a pet.
The woman continues to post videos of her enormous cat, which she claims is the size of her four-year-old daughter, Anechka, reports NDTV.
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In the most recent video, the cat is shown standing on its hind legs and reaching for the door handle. Minina stated that the cat named Kefir is a Maine Coon, one of the biggest domesticated cat breeds.
Kefir the cat is seen running outdoors after unlocking the door to stretch its long limbs in the sun before relaxing in the yard in the video. Other films and photographs show Minina, her four-year-old daughter, and Kefir having fun at home.
In one charming video, the duo can be seen resting on the sofa while the child watches cartoon, the report also said.
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"Beautiful, beautiful baby. Wow! Our pets are better than many people. They deserve our love and deep care. Pretty baby I will say prayers to keep you in God's care," one user commented on her Instagram post.
"That cat eats better than a 4 year old Ukrainian girl," said another. "I'm in love with this guy," said another user.
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Maine Coons are domesticated cats that originated in the state of Maine in the United States. They are one of the oldest indigenous breeds in North America and are known for their size, added the report.
Dialogues between parties not held in other countries, including in the US: Momen
Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today (July 08, 2023) said he is not aware that dialogue between political parties over election brought any results in the past.
He said the government will not talk to “any terrorists.”
The foreign minister said such dialogues are not held in other countries, including in the US, and referred to those as "useless" discussion.
Momen was responding to questions on political dialogue at ‘DCAB Talk’ at the Foreign Service Academy.
He said foreigners can come and observe the elections. "We remain transparent. We have nothing to hide."
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Momen said the next election will be held as per the constitution. "We have a good track record of holding good elections. We are doing our best."
Responding to a question on recent remarks by China and Russia, he said those are their remarks. "You may ask them."
Momen said democracy is a dynamic process and it becomes mature through practice.
He said the next election will be a model election in the world. "We want all parties, who are willing, to join the elections."
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The foreign minister also said there is no problem if any “terrorist party” does not join the election.
Foreign Minister Momen has said that he fears there are efforts of hindering the national elections.
“We have indication some are trying to hinder the election process,” he said, without elaborating further whether they are from Bangladesh or outside the country.
Asked who are those making such efforts to hinder elections, he sad, “You know it better. You are journalists."
Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) hosted the event. DCAB President Rezaul Karim Lotus and General Secretary Emrul Kayesh also spoke on the occasion.
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Biden’s upcoming European trip is meant to boost NATO against Russia as the war in Ukraine drags on
President Joe Biden will head to Europe at week's end for a three-country trip intended to bolster the international coalition against Russian aggression as the war in Ukraine extends well into its second year.
The main focus of Biden's five-day visit will be the annual NATO summit, held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania. Also planned are stops in Helsinki, Finland, to commemorate the Nordic country's entrance into the 31-nation military alliance in April, and Britain, the White House announced Sunday.
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Biden will begin his trip next Sunday in London, and will meet with King Charles III at Windsor Castle the next day, according to Buckingham Palace. The president did not attend Charles's coronation in May, sending first lady Jill Biden to represent the United States. In June, Biden hosted British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House, where the two leaders pledged continued cooperation in defending Ukraine.
Sunak's office said he looked forward to welcoming Biden and that their meeting would build on earlier visits.
The NATO meeting comes at the latest critical point in the war. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says counteroffensive and defensive actions against Russian forces are underway as Ukrainian troops start to recapture territory in the southeastern part of the country, according to its military leaders.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general, visited the White House on June 13, where he and Biden made clear that the Western alliance was united in defending Ukraine. Biden said during that meeting that he and other NATO leaders will work to ensure that each member country spends the requisite 2% of its gross domestic product on defense.
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"The NATO allies have never been more united. We both worked like hell to make sure that happened. And so far, so good," Biden said as he sat alongside Stoltenberg, who is expected to extend his term for another year. "We see our joint strength in modernizing the relationship within NATO, as well as providing assistance to defense capabilities to Ukraine.
When Finland joined NATO in April, it effectively doubled Russia's border with the world's biggest security alliance. Biden has highlighted the strengthened NATO alliance as a signal of Moscow's declining influence.
Sweden is also seeking entry into NATO, although alliance members Turkey and Hungary have yet to endorse the move. Biden will host Sweden's prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity as the United States presses for the Nordic nation's entry into NATO.
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Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said Sweden is too lax on terrorist groups and security threats. Stoltenberg has said Sweden has met its obligations for membership through toughening anti-terrorist laws and other measures.
Hungary's reasons for opposing Sweden have been less defined, complaining about Sweden's criticism of democratic backsliding and the erosion of rule of law. Hungary, while providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, has also sought to balance its relations between NATO and Russia. Budapest is heavily reliant on Russia for its energy requirements.
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All nations in the alliance have to ratify the entry of a new member country.
The White House has stressed that Sweden has fulfilled its commitments to join NATO and has urged that it join the alliance expeditiously.
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Russian missile strike in Ukraine's south, shelling in east kill at least 6 people
Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight and shelling destroyed homes in the eastern Donetsk region early Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring more than a dozen others, regional officials said.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said Russian forces have stepped up aerial strikes in their more than 15-month war against Ukraine, just as the country's troops have reported limited gains in an early counteroffensive.
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In the east, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on Telegram that at least three people died after shelling destroyed seven homes and damaged dozens more in the cities of Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka.
In Odesa, three employees of a food warehouse were killed and seven others injured in a strike that damaged homes, a warehouse, shops and cafes downtown, he regional administration said on Facebook. Another six people — guards and residents of a neighboring house — were injured.
Searchers were looking for possible survivors under the rubble, it said.
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The attack on the port city, launched from the Black Sea, involved four Kalibr cruise missiles, three of which were intercepted by air defenses, the administration said.
Andriy Kovalov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's General Staff, said Russian forces have increased missile and aerial strikes on Ukraine.
In a briefing, he said strikes on the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kirovohrad regions, in addition to the Odesa region, involved Kh-22 cruise missiles, sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles, and Iranian-made Shahed drones. Nine were intercepted.
Kovalov said Ukrainian forces made advances on several fronts of the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, and fighting was continuing in or near at least two settlements in the eastern Donetsk region. Russia has occupied and controls nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
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Britain's Ministry of Defense, which has regularly issued updates on the conflict, wrote on Twitter that southern Ukraine "has often been more permissible for Russian air operations" compared with other parts of the front.
Separately, the mayor of the central city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown, said the death toll from a Russian strike a day earlier that hit an apartment building had risen to 12.
Russian missile attack on Zelenskyy’s hometown kills at least 10; several others trapped in rubble
The mayor of the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih said 10 people have died following Russian missile strikes overnight that hit civilian sites including a residential building.
Oleksandr Vilkul said 28 other people had been wounded and at least one person was believed to be under the rubble. In an early afternoon update Tuesday, Vilkul wrote on the Telegram app that a dozen injured people had been rushed to city hospitals.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
At least six people were killed when Russian missiles hit civilian buildings in an overnight attack Tuesday in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said, as rescuers scrambled to retrieve people believed to be trapped under the rubble.
The strike involving cruise missiles hit a five-story residential building, which was engulfed in fire, Gov. Serhiy Lysak of the Dnipropetrovsk region wrote on Telegram.
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After initial reports of three dead, Kryvyi Rih mayor Oleksandr Vilkul wrote on the social media app that the death toll had risen to a least six, and seven people were feared trapped under the rubble. Authorities initially said at least two dozen people were wounded.
The devastation in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown is the latest bloodshed in Russia's war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, as Ukrainian forces are mounting counteroffensive operations using Western-supplied firepower to try to drive out the Russians.
Images from the scene relayed by Zelenskyy on his Telegram channel showed firefighters battling the blaze as pockets of fire poked through multiple broken windows of a building. Charred and damaged vehicles littered the nearby ground.
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"More terrorist missiles," he wrote. "Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people."
The aerial assault was the latest barrage of strikes by Russian forces that targeted various parts of Ukraine overnight.
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, was attacked with Iranian-made Shahed drones, and the surrounding region was shelled, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. The shelling wounded two civilians in the town of Shevchenkove, southeast of Kharkiv.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, separately reported early Tuesday that the drone strike damaged a utilities business and a warehouse in the city's northeast. Neither Terekhov nor Syniehubov referenced any casualties within Kharkiv.
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The Kyiv military administration reported that the capital came under fire as well on Tuesday, but the incoming missiles were destroyed by air defenses and there were no immediate reports of any casualties there.
Air defenses overnight shot down 10 out of 14 cruise missiles and one of four Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russian forces, Ukraine's General Staff said on its Facebook page.
Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine's ground troops said the country's forces were "moving forward" outside the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram that Russian forces are "losing positions on the flanks," while Ukrainian troops were conducting "defensive" operations in the area.
For weeks, Ukrainian officials have been reporting small gains west of Bakhmut, which was largely devastated in the war's longest and bloodiest battle before Moscow's forces took control last month.
Also Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry published a video showing what it said was a German-made Leopard 2 tank and U.S.-made Bradley fighting vehicle captured from Ukrainian forces. According to the ministry, the video was shot by Russian soldiers after fierce fighting in the southern Zaporizhzhia, and a soldier is seen pointing at the immobilized vehicles. It wasn't immediately possible to verify the video's authenticity.
Like the Bakhmut area, battle zones in Zaporizhzhia are one of several places along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where Ukrainian forces have been intensifying their counteroffensive operations.
On Monday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the country's troops recaptured a total of seven villages spanning 90 square kilometers (35 square miles) of eastern Ukraine over the past week — small successes in the early phases of a counteroffensive.
Russian officials didn't confirm those Ukrainian gains, which were impossible to verify and could be reversed in the to-and-fro of war.
The advance amounted to only small bits of territory and underscored the difficulty of the battle ahead for Ukrainian forces, who will have to fight meter by meter to regain the roughly one-fifth of their country under Russian occupation.