Russia’s Defense Ministry has announced it thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to attack targets in Moscow province using a drone, late Thursday night.
According to a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry, “In the early hours of today (Friday), an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using a drone on targets in Moscow province was thwarted.” The Ministry added that air defense forces destroyed the drone, and the incident resulted in no casualties or damage.
Earlier in the day, Moscow’s Mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, reported a drone was shot down in Moscow province, highlighting that there were no victims or damage from the failed attack attempt.
The Ukrainian army reclaimed the village of Staromykhailivka from Russian forces on the southern front, where Kyiv forces have been intensifying their counterattack in recent days, according to Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar.
Maliar announced on Telegram, “Staromykhailivka in the Donetsk region has been liberated. Our defenders are currently conducting sweeping operations.” This victory is one of the first tangible results of the Ukrainian offensive in this sector of the front since June. Kyiv forces have reclaimed several villages in the Frunze area, where Russian forces have had difficulty defending and which lies several kilometers from Moscow’s main defensive lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video on Telegram showing soldiers with a Ukrainian flag near a shrapnel-riddled wall, writing, “Our south, our youth, glory to Ukraine.” The soldiers in the video claimed they had “liberated the village of Staromykhailivka.”
The Ukrainian army launched a broad counter-offensive in early June, aimed at expelling Russian forces from the territories they control in the south and east of the country.
However, this offensive has so far achieved only limited gains for Kyiv, manifested in the reclamation of control over several villages and hills near the devastated city of Bahmut, the epicenter of battles in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have heavily fortified the south, which holds strategic importance. They have prepared an extensive network of trenches, minefields, anti-tank ditches, and “dragon’s teeth” defensive lines.
The Russian army, meanwhile, confirmed on Wednesday that it had repelled a large-scale Ukrainian attack involving hundreds of soldiers near Orekhov in another sector of the southern front.
In contrast, Moscow forces are on the offensive in the northeast and have announced control over territories heading towards Lyman in recent days. They claimed last Tuesday to have taken control over the village of Sergeyevka.
