Ukrainian special forces launched a surprise attack on the occupied Kinburn Peninsula in the Black Sea today, killing more than 30 Russian soldiers and destroying six armored vehicles, Ukraine’s military intelligence service said.
Russian troops occupied the peninsula, in southern Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, from the very first months of the invasion. The presence of Russian military force in this region is considered one of the reasons why Ukraine cannot exploit the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson for the export of goods through the Black Sea.
“As a result of the raid on the Russian-occupied Kinburn Peninsula, six enemy armored vehicles were destroyed and more than 30 insurgents were killed,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said the raid was repulsed, with some members of the Ukrainian forces falling into a minefield and the rest being killed by gunfire. In total, Kiev lost 16 “saboteurs” in this operation, Moscow claims.
Attack on a Russian airport
The Ukrainian armed forces announced today that they struck a Russian military airfield in western Russia’s Lipetsk region overnight, causing damage to a stockpile of remote-controlled bombs and a series of explosions.
Kiev is attacking Russian air bases to limit Moscow’s ability to use its warplanes to strike targets in Ukraine and pound front lines with guided bombs and missiles.
“A large fire broke out and multiple explosions occurred,” the Kiev armed forces announced via Telegram.
According to the same source, the airport was the base for Russian Su-34, Su-35 and MiG-31 warplanes.
A security source told Reuters the attack was carried out by drones while dozens of planes and helicopters were at the airport, which also housed a cache of 700 remote-controlled bombs.
The governor of the Russian Lipetsk region, Igor Aratamonov, said a “massive attack” by Ukrainian drones had caused explosions, blackouts and injured nine people.
Local emergency officials said a fire had broken out at the air base outside the regional capital, Interfax news agency reported.
Last Saturday, Ukraine announced it had hit a munitions depot at Morozovsk airport, which it said Russian forces were storing remote-controlled bombs and other equipment there, as well as a number of fuel storage facilities.
UN: July was deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since 2022
July this year was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since October 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said, as Russia stepped up its shelling.
“The high number of casualties in July continued the alarming trend of an increase in civilian casualties since March 2024,” the HRMMU said in an emailed statement to the media.
14 dead in a supermarket
A Russian missile hit a supermarket in the front-line Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region today, killing at least 14 people and injuring 43 others, Ukrainian officials said.
Black clouds of smoke rose from the damaged building, according to photos and videos posted by officials. The interior minister later said the fire had been put out.
“Russian terrorists hit an ordinary supermarket and a post office. There are people under the rubble,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told X. Emergency services are still working through the rubble to search for survivors, he added.
Kostiantynivka is located just 13 kilometers from the area where fighting is raging in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donetsk region controlled by Ukrainian forces are regularly hit by Russian shelling.
Meanwhile, Russian troops have been trying for the past 24 hours to push back Ukrainian forces that have invaded the Kursk region. Kyiv has not yet commented on this operation.
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