The drone war , fought so far on Ukrainian soil, borders on Russia , deeply affected by a series of attacks on energy infrastructures , one of which saw an unmanned aircraft crash no more than a hundred kilometers from Moscow.
And in the last few hours the alarm has been raised in Crimea , where the defense ministry of the Russian federation speaks of a "massive attack" thwarted, with "six drones shot down and another four disabled".
In Moldova, tension is skyrocketing in the meantime, with hundreds of demonstrators from the pro-Russian party Sor who took to the streets in Chisinau demanding the resignation of Maia Sandu's government and early elections: some tried to raid the executive headquarters but were blocked by riot police who made several arrests before the demonstrators withdrew.
In Russia, a hacker attack on television channels and radio stations in various regions of the country also contributed to raising the alarm, from which false alarms were spread about imminent missile bombings. In the same hours, the airspace over St. Petersburg had been closed to traffic for about an hour without explanations being provided.
Kiev remains silent , as it did last December, when Russia claimed to have shot down Ukrainian drones that had targeted two air bases also hundreds of kilometers away from the border, in the regions of Ryazan and Saratov. In Ukraine, meanwhile, the battle for Bakhmut continues to rage in Donbass , which Russian troops have been trying to conquer for months.
"The situation around the city is extremely tense and despite the significant losses, the enemy has sent the best trained Wagner assault units to try to break through our defenses," said the commander of the Ukrainian ground troops, Oleksandr Syrskyi. referring to the private military corps employed by Moscow in the battle. Aerial images by AFP show ruins and smoke rising from this city, once known for its wine and salt production. Ukrainian sources also report renewed Russian shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine, with at least one civilian killed.
(Unioneonline/vl)