All the latest events of the war in Ukraine.
Russia ‘thwarts’ attack with Ukrainian drones
Russian air defenses shot down two Ukrainian drones heading for Moscow, Russian authorities said early Wednesday.
“Over the territory of the Moscow region, a ‘kyiv-led’ attack attempt using unmanned aerial vehicles was thwarted,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
There were no fatalities or damage, the ministry added.
Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian soil have multiplied in recent weeks, often targeting Moscow and the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Berlin offers Poland Patriot anti-missile systems
Germany said on Tuesday it had offered to extend the deployment of its Patriot missile defense systems in Poland, probably until the end of the year.
Berlin deployed three of the surface-to-air missile systems to eastern Poland in January after a Polish village was hit by an explosion in late 2022 believed to come from a stray Ukrainian defensive missile.
This deployment was originally scheduled to last a maximum of six months. But the German Defense Ministry said it had offered Warsaw to keep these Patriot batteries “throughout the summer, and probably until the end of the year.”
However, he indicated that there were no plans to extend beyond 2023.
Poland’s defense minister initially rejected the German offer and asked Berlin to send them to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion, later agreeing.
Germany, a major arms supplier to kyiv, has also sent a Patriot system to Ukraine.
‘Double tap’: Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking rescue workers
Ukrainian officials on Tuesday accused the Kremlin of deliberately targeting rescue workers by hitting residential buildings with two consecutive missiles: the first to lure teams to the scene and the second to injure or kill them.
Attacks Monday night in the eastern city of Pokrovsk killed nine people and wounded more than 80, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his late-night speech.
ADVERTISEMENTOne of the dead was an emergency officer, according to Ukrainian authorities. Most of the injured were policemen, first responders and soldiers who rushed to help residents.
Since the start of the war, Russia has used artillery and missiles to hit targets and then hit the exact same spot about 30 minutes later, often hitting first responders to the first blast.
The tactic is called “double tapping” in military jargon. The Russians used the same method in the Syrian civil war.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it hit a command post of the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk.
The claims of neither party could be independently verified.