Missile war intensifies between Moscow and kyiv

Russia and Ukraine engaged in a rare exchange of missiles overnight from Saturday to Sunday. The Russian army, which had already launched several intense bombing campaigns in recent days, further intensified its fire this weekend. In a few hours, some 29 missiles, including S-300s and powerful Iskander or KH-100 cruise ballistic missiles, and 28 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones, flew over Ukraine. One of the largest salvos to date. Moscow sought, as always, to destroy essential sites, notably power plants or dams.

According to kyiv, 18 missiles were intercepted by air defense and almost all Shahed (25). Damage was nevertheless noted to urban energy and port infrastructure in kyiv, as well as in the regions of Kryvyï Rih (center), and in the west around Lviv. As the waves of bombing continue, the damage seems less significant than that of Friday, when Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, found itself deprived of electricity, and therefore water and heating.

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One of the Russian warheads violated Polish airspace, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Moscow and Warsaw. Polish territory was flown over for around forty seconds before the machine left it, the country's army said on Sunday. Poland, Ukraine's ally, wanted to be reassuring, and said it had been able to shoot down the missile if necessary. A similar incident took place in December. The Russian ambassador in Warsaw will be summoned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to demand “information and explanations”. “The rest of our action will depend on these explanations and this information,” continued Deputy Minister Andrzej Szejna on television. “This is normal, because this is not the first time that Polish space has been violated by a missile from the Russian Federation. This is the third time, as far as we know,” he added.

For experts, this series of shootings is therefore not a retaliatory measure after the deadly attack against a Moscow concert hall, for which the Kremlin is trying, against all evidence, to attribute part of the responsibility to the Ukraine. The Russian authorities, on the other hand, claim to respond with these serial strikes to the Ukrainian bombings of border regions. kyiv says these incursions and its own shooting campaigns are responses to the daily attacks Russia has inflicted on Ukrainians since the start of the war.

At the same time, Ukraine launched strikes on Sevastopol, capital of Crimea annexed by Russia since 2014, and headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet. The latter, already considerably weakened by multiple attacks by missiles and aerial or maritime drones, would still have suffered heavy losses. kyiv thus claimed to have put two ships out of action. “The Ukrainian armed forces managed to hit the Yamal and Azov amphibious ships, as well as a communications center and other infrastructure,” details a press release from the Ukrainian armed forces.

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These two 112 meter ships are landing craft. Their losses, which are added to many others, are a humiliation for Russia, which had to abandon the blockade of the coasts still under Ukrainian control. According to specialist sites, Ukraine also destroyed the former headquarters of the Russian fleet housing a satellite communications center, while the Belbek air base, also close to Sevastopol, was hit. The raids were undoubtedly carried out with Storm-Shadow and Scalp, Franco-British missiles.

For its part, Moscow claimed on Saturday evening to have repelled a “massive” Ukrainian missile attack targeting Sevastopol, shooting down “more than ten missiles”. The debris from one of the machines killed a 65-year-old civilian according to Russian authorities.