South Front
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On the night of May 20, another wave of Russian strikes was inflicted on Ukraine. Around midnight, an alarm sounded in various regions of the country. Residents of the capital again did not sleep for several hours because of loud explosions.
Kiev does not confirm the damage caused by the strikes; but Ukrainian media reported that loud explosions thundered in the capital as well as in the Kiev, Zhitomir and Chernihiv regions last night.
Kiev was likely the main target of the recent attack. The city was mainly targeted by Russian Geran UAVs. According to the local residents, more than 10 explosions thundered in Kiev. Air defence forces were intercepting targets for several hours.
The mayor of the city Vitali Klitschko only confirmed damage caused by the work of the Ukrainian air defence forces. He reported a fire on the roof of a 9-storey residential building in the Dnipro district in the east of Kiev. The fire reportedly broke out by the wreckage of an intercepted target.
Videos shared by civilians confirmed the fire. The Kiev regime is deploying its air defence systems on the roofs of the highrise buildings. This was confirmed after Ukrainian Bayraktar UAV targeted the city. LINK It should not be excluded that one of such systems could be destroyed by Russian forces. However, Kiev authorities are unlikely to confirm their losses.
The city administration also declared that the wreckage fell in Darnitsky, Pechersk and Solomensky districts. Cars, a residential building, and roads were damaged.
According to the local report and photos shared by the residents of the capital, at least one large fire broke out in the capital, which could be a result of the Russian strike on a military facility.
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Since the filming of the work of the air defence systems in Ukraine may be punished with 8 years in prison, civilians avoid sharing footage which confirms the results of the Russian attacks. At the same time, Ukrainian authorities never reveal the losses and exaggerate the numbers of intercepted Russian UAVs and missiles. Thus, the true results of Russian attacks are hard to be estimated.
However, it could be noted that the latest wave of strikes was not the largest one in a series of recent attacks. The capital was targeted mainly with UAVs. The main goal was likely to reveal new positions of the Ukrainian air defence systems in the capital after the recent defeat of the US-made Patriot system.
Since the beginning of May, the Ukrainian capital has been regularly targeted by Russian forces. On May 4, the Kiev authorities announced the highest intensity of strikes on the city since the beginning of the year. May 8 marked the most massive drone attack since the beginning of the Russian special military operation. A week later, the head of the city’s military administration reported that the capital of Ukraine was subjected to an “exceptional in its density” attack. Then, the maximum number of Russian missiles was recorded in a short period. The attack was conducted from different directions and by different means.
After today’s reconnaissance drone strikes, another major attack should be expected in the coming days, including with the use of Russian hypersonic missiles.
