Ukraine’s defence systems destroyed all air weapons Russia launched overnight, Ukraine’s Air Force said early on Monday.
The Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app that a total of 14 attack drones, including 13 Iranian-made Shahed drones and one unspecified drone, as well as one cruise missile were all destroyed.
At the same time, Russian forces aiming to contain a four-month-old Ukrainian counter offensive maintained unrelenting pressure on Sunday on the shattered town of Avdiivka in the east and intensified shelling in the southern area of Kherson.
Russia has focused on the industrial east since pulling back from a failed advance on Kyiv at the start of the February 2022 invasion and its forces have tried to maintain positions in Kherson since abandoning the region’s main town late last year.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, in its evening report, said Ukrainian forces repelled nearly 20 Russian attacks around Avdiivka, its buildings now largely reduced to shells. Russian air strikes hit nearby villages, it said.
Avdiivka has become a watchword for resistance, viewed as the gateway to recapturing the Russian-held city of Donetsk and the rest of Donbas — made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
(REUTERS)