Russia continues bombing Ukraine in an attempt to wear down its air defenses

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired volleys of drones and missiles over regions of eastern and southern Ukraine overnight, authorities said Thursday, wounding more than a dozen people as Kremlin forces persevered with their attacks designed to wear down Ukrainian defenses.

Anti-aircraft defenses intercepted 26 of the 28 Shahed drones launched, the Kiev Air Force explained, adding that Russian troops also fired five missiles.

Bombing by Kremlin forces of Ukraine during the war has intensified recently, with operations targeting the capital, kyiv, and energy facilities across the country. The attacks also seek to weaken the morale of the population and respond to long-range Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.

One of Moscow’s objectives is to “deplete Ukraine’s ground air defense inventory,” indicated a recent report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

This would undermine some of kyiv’s combat capability as it awaits military support promised by the West, including ammunition for its artillery and anti-aircraft defenses.

“kyiv faces the threat that an aerial war of attrition will increasingly favor Russia without adequate support from the US and its allies,” the Institute noted. “Ukraine’s ability to continue to counter Russian air threats and cause damage to the Russian Aerospace Forces remains important to the outcome of the war.”

Ukraine is waiting for its Western partners to deliver F-16 fighter jets, which will help increase pressure on Russia. Ukrainian pilots have been training in the West for months to fly these fighters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Kiev’s Western allies not to provide air bases in their countries from which F-16s can launch operations against Kremlin forces, as the facilities would become “legitimate targets.” . Fighters need high-level runways and reinforced hangars to protect them.

According to military analysts, the addition of dozens of F-16s on the Ukrainian side will not change the situation, although kyiv maintains that they offer an opportunity to counter Russian air dominance.

Putin insisted that fighter jets “will not change the situation on the battlefield.”

“We will destroy their warplanes just as we destroy their battle tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers,” the president said in remarks to military pilots during a visit to an air base on Wednesday night.

Despite that, Russia has no intention of starting a war with NATO, Putin added, indicating that thinking that Moscow could attack a member of the Alliance after the war in Ukraine was “pure nonsense.”

Authorities in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region near the Black Sea reported 12 injuries and damage to six residential buildings after Russia fired a ballistic missile over the city on Wednesday afternoon.

In a nighttime attack in Zaporizhzhia province, also in the south, Shahed drones hit a residential area and caused minor injuries to two women aged 72 and 74, the governor, Ivan Fedorov, said. According to rescue services, seven buildings were damaged.

The Black Sea city of Odessa repelled three missile and drone attacks, according to authorities.