Russia Attacks Kyiv, President Zelensky Says Ukraine Destroys Moscow Army In East And South

Ukrainian ground forces commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi (left), with Military Commander, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. (Wikimedia Commons/Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Russia on Tuesday struck military and infrastructure targets in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and in all other parts of the country, including western areas far from the front lines, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces attacked and destroyed eight ammunition depots across Ukraine in the previous 24 hours, repelling Kyiv airstrikes in three areas.

It said Ukrainian troops had tried to attack the Russian-held eastern city of Donetsk and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, but had been repelled.

On the other hand, President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Ukraine's air defenses for downing more than 30 drones and pointedly said that Ukrainian forces destroyed Russian troops in the two main theaters of conflict, east and south.

President Zelensky's office said the drones struck the Kyiv region in several waves for more than four hours.

Meanwhile, the commander of the ground forces and the deputy minister of defense reported success with counterattacks in both areas.

Also on Tuesday, Ukrainian troops attacked the Russian-controlled town of Nova Kakhovka in the southern Kherson region with a drone, killing a woman and wounding four civilians, Russian-appointed local authorities said.

The Russian offensive came as attention was focused on Ukrainian actions against Russian defensive positions to the south and east, the initial stages of a counteroffensive seeking to push President Vladimir Putin's troops back from territory captured since the Ukrainian invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv says it has recaptured 113 square km (44 square miles) of territory and eight settlements from Russian forces. However, the latest offensive shows that Russia is capable of fighting off the front lines.

In his evening video address, President Zelensky said Ukrainian troops "in the south and east are actively destroying the enemy, physically cleaning up Ukraine.

"Defense against terror means destroying terrorists. And that is a guarantee that an evil nation will never have the opportunity to bring evil to Ukraine," said President Zelensky, launching Reuters June 21.

Meanwhile, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces said on Telegram his troops were making progress on the east side of the destroyed town of Bakhmut, which fell to Russian mercenaries last month, after months of fighting.

Ukrainian troops, he said, were repelling an increasingly intense Russian assault near Kupiansk in the northeast.

Meanwhile, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian troops in the south "gradually, in small steps, but very confidently, are making progress. We can even use the allegory that we are carving out every meter of ground from the enemy."

On the other hand, President Zelensky's Office said several commercial and administrative buildings as well as several private houses were damaged by Russian drone attacks in the Kyiv region. There was no mention of casualties in overnight's airstrikes.

A "very important facility" was hit in Lviv, far from the front line and about 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Poland, regional governor Maksym Kozytskiy said, without giving details.

The Energy Ministry said debris from the downed drone damaged power lines in the Kyiv region as well as in the Mykolaiv region in the south, cutting power to hundreds of residents.

Meanwhile, the air force said Ukraine's air defenses had gone into action, mostly in the Kyiv area, where more than two dozen Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed.

The air force said Russia also targeted infrastructure in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia with Iskander and S-300 missiles. The Ukrainian military said Russia had fired seven missiles at Zaporizhzhia.