By Elena Teslova
MOSCOW (AA) – Russia on Friday vowed to increase strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in response to Ukraine's attacks on the Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
Speaking at a daily press briefing in Moscow, Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine's combat helicopter that attacked Russia's Bryansk region yesterday was shot down by the air defense systems.
According to Konashenkov, the Russian army in Ukraine is developing its offensive, and last night it captured one of the strongholds of the Ukrainian military in Mariupol – the Illich Iron and Steel Works plant.
The sea-based Kalibr missiles also hit a machine-building plant Vizar near Kyiv, which produced and repaired average- and log-distance air defense systems, and anti-ship missiles, he added.
“The number and scale of missile strikes on targets in Kyiv will increase in response to its terrorist attacks or sabotage on the Russian territory,” Konashenkov warned.
Also, over the last night, one Su-27 fighter jet, eight unmanned aerial vehicles, and a launcher of Tochka-U missiles were destroyed, Konashenkov added.
“A Tochka-U tactical missile launcher and a temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian nationalist formation, including up to 20 armored vehicles and up to 50 nationalists, were destroyed in the Yasenevoye area.”
Troops in the settlement of Izyumskoye, Kharkiv region, also neutralized up to 30 Polish mercenaries, he added.
According to Konashenkov, the Russian armed forces hit 221 military facilities of Ukraine, including 12 control points, 176 strong points and areas of concentration of enemy manpower, and 12 artillery firing positions.
The aviation destroyed 13 military facilities in Ukraine, including two warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons and 10 areas of concentration of personnel and Ukrainian military equipment, the spokesman said.
“In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 132 aircraft, 105 helicopters, 245 anti-aircraft missile systems, 456 unmanned aerial vehicles, 2,213 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 249 multiple rocket launchers, 966 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 2,110 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed,” he said.
At least 1,964 civilians have been killed and 2,613 injured in Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be much higher.
More than 4.7 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with over 7 million more internally displaced, said the UN refugee agency.