Russia said on Monday its military had hit Ukrainian air bases in overnight strikes and Ukrainian forces had shelled industrial facilities inside Russia as both sides sought the upper hand ahead of what Kyiv hopes will be a decisive counter-offensive.
The Ukrainian capital also came under attack for the 16th time this month in the morning after a second successive night of bombardments. Russian forces fired 11 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv at about 11.30am, according to Ukraine’s chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. All of them were shot down. While Russian forces have launched overnight aerial attacks on Kyiv more than a dozen times this month, the mid-morning assault marked the first daytime air raid in many weeks. “With these constant attacks, the enemy seeks to keep the civilian population in deep psychological tension,” said Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration.
In a rare acknowledgement of damage to a military “target”, Ukraine said that work was under way to restore a runway and that five aircraft were taken out of service in the western region of Khmelnitskiy, although it did not name the site or sites. A large military airfield was located in the region before the war. “At the moment, work is continuing to contain fires in storage facilities for fuel and lubricants and munitions,” the Khmelnitskiy region governor’s office said. Russian state-owned news agency RIA cited the defence ministry as saying more than one air base was hit, but there was no confirmation from Ukraine of damage to any other air bases.
Ukraine’s military said an attack on Odesa port had caused a fire and damaged infrastructure but did not specify whether the damage threatened grain exports. The country is an important global grain supplier and the port is vital for shipping agricultural products abroad. It is also one of three included in a UN-brokered deal on the safe export of grain via the Black Sea. “A fire broke out in the port infrastructure of Odesa as a result of the hit. It was quickly extinguished. Information on the extent of the damage is being updated,” the military’s southern command said.
Russia said on Monday the Black Sea grain deal would no longer be operational unless a UN deal with Moscow to overcome obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports was fulfilled. This month Moscow reluctantly agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal until July 17, but said more progress had to be made to advance its own interests.