Rescuers work at a site of a shopping mall destroyed during a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, on Aug. 14.STRINGER/Reuters
Russia launched three waves of drones and missiles against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday, though the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all the airborne weapons fired during the nighttime attacks.
Falling debris from the interceptions of 15 Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles damaged a residential building, a supermarket and a dormitory of an educational facility in the city, Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said.
Two employees of the supermarket were hospitalized, Mr. Kiper said. Video showed a huge blaze at the store during the night and, the next day, the large building’s charred and mangled wreckage.
Also Monday, the Dutch Defense Ministry and the British Royal Air Force said they scrambled fighter jets when Russian bombers were tracked flying toward the airspace of the Netherlands and off Scotland, respectively. The pair of Russian warplanes spotted in each location were flying in international airspace.
Britain’s air force said two Typhoon fighters were launched from RAF Lossiemouth to monitor the Russian bombers as they flew north of the Shetland Islands off Scotland. The Russian Tu-142 Bear-F and Tu-142 Bear-J, which are used for maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare, were in airspace that is part of NATO’s northern air policing area, Britain’s Defence Ministry said.
Russian aircraft entering Britain’s zone of international airspace can pose a hazard to other planes because they often don’t communicate with air traffic control or broadcast their co-ordinates, the military said.
The Typhoons stayed with the Russian planes until they were out of Britain’s area of interest, according to a statement from the lead pilot, who wasn’t named.
Denmark’s air force said its fighter jets identified the Russian bombers flying over the Baltic Sea toward the Netherlands. The Dutch Defense Ministry said it then scrambled two of its own F-16 fighters.
“This doesn’t happen often, but today’s incident demonstrates the importance of rapid deployment,” the ministry said. “The F-16s are on standby 24 hours a day and can take off within minutes and intercept an unidentified aircraft.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine on Monday reported fierce fighting along its entire front line and “some success” in pushing back Moscow’s troops in one part of the southeast where Ukrainian forces are trying to retake Russian-occupied territory.
Progress has been hampered by widespread Russian-laid minefields and strong fortifications, deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said.
But the Ukrainian military had pushed forward around the village of Staromaiorske, around 95 kilometres southwest of Russian-held Donetsk, and was pressing on two fronts in the south, Ms. Maliar said.
Troops were fighting for control of the neighbouring settlement of Urozhaine, she said. A Moscow-installed official in an occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said Sunday that Kyiv was attempting to pierce Russian lines by gaining a foothold in both villages.
“Hostilities are taking place in the vicinity of Urozhaine and the fight is for this particular locality,” Ms. Maliar said in a statement to an official military platform. “There is some success on the southern and southeast axes in the vicinity of Staromaiorske.”
Ukrainian forces have made incremental gains since kicking off their long-awaited operation in June, but officials in Kyiv have acknowledged that progress has been slower than they would have liked and hampered by rigid Russian defences.
In Monday’s statement, Ms. Maliar described the nature of that challenge.
“The Armed Forces are facing complete mining of the territory, cement fortifications of the key heights [and] constant mortar and artillery shelling,” she said. “Additionally the Russians are densely using aviation.”
Ms. Maliar added that the Ukrainian military managed to retake nearly two square miles (3.2 kilometres) during the past week around the ruined eastern city of Bakhmut, where Russian and Ukrainian forces fought the bloodiest battle of the nearly 18-month war.
She also said Russian troops were continuing their assault around the eastern towns of Kupyansk and Lyman, where she said they were regrouping.
“The Russians have intensified these offensives after success of the Ukrainian army on Bakhmut axis,” Ms. Maliar said.
Russia still controls around one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, Luhansk region in the east and swathes of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The occupied territory includes most of Ukraine’s coast line and parts of its industrial heartland, the Donbas.
with reports from Reuters