reportedly launched mass drone attacks at each other鈥檚 territories for a second straight day Sunday, one of which apparently targeted a Russian military airport.
At least 35 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over three regions in southwestern Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
A Russian air base hosting bomber aircraft used in the war in Ukraine was among the targets, according to a Russian Telegram channel critical of the Kremlin. The channel posted short videos of drones flying over low-rise housing in what it claimed was the Russian town of Morozovsk, whose air base is home to Russia鈥檚 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment.
Vasily Golubev, the governor of Russia鈥檚 Rostov province, separately reported 鈥渕ass drone strikes鈥� near Morozovsk and another town farther west, but didn鈥檛 mention the air base. Golubev said most the drones were shot down and and there were no casualties. He didn鈥檛 comment on damage.
As of Sunday evening, Kyiv didn鈥檛 formally acknowledge or claim responsibility for the drone attacks. A major Ukrainian newspaper, Ukrainska Pravda, cited an anonymous source in the security services as saying that Ukraine鈥檚 army and intelligence services successfully struck the Morozovsk air base, inflicting 鈥渟ignificant damage鈥� to military equipment. It wasn鈥檛 immediately possible to verify this claim.
Also Sunday morning, Ukraine鈥檚 air force said it shot down 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched overnight by Russian troops in southern and western Ukraine, as well as one X-59 cruise missile launched from the country鈥檚 occupied south.
A civilian was killed overnight near Odesa, a key port on Ukraine鈥檚 southern Black Sea coast, after the remnants of a destroyed drone fell on his house, Ukraine鈥檚 military said.
Stepped-up drone attacks over the past month come as both sides are keen to show they aren鈥檛 deadlocked as Neither side has gained much ground despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June.
Russian shelling on Sunday also killed an 81-year-old man in central Kherson, the southern Ukrainian city that was recaptured by Kyiv鈥檚 forces last fall, according to the head of its municipal military administration.
Ukrainian and Russian forces exchanged fire outside Terebreno, a Russian village just kilometers (miles) from the Ukrainian border, according to Telegram posts by Gov. Vasily Gladkov. He did not provide details, but insisted Russian authorities had the situation 鈥渦nder control.鈥�
According to Baza, a Telegram news channel set up by Russian journalists critical of the Kremlin, fighting between Russian troops and a 鈥淯krainian diversionary group鈥� began around 11 a.m. near Terebreno, home to some 200 people, forcing residents to hide in shelters.
Hours later, a 69-year-old woman was reported killed in a Ukrainian border village in the northern Sumy region, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Terebreno. According to the Ukrainian regional prosecutor鈥檚 office, the woman died after a Russian shell flew into her home. It wasn鈥檛 immediately clear whether her death was linked to the reported clashes.
Late on Sunday afternoon, a Ukrainian border force official reported in a video statement that multiple Russian 鈥渟abotage and reconnaissance鈥� operatives had crossed into Ukraine鈥檚 northern Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Andriy Demchenko claimed that Ukrainian border guards and territorial defense units succeeded in pushing them back into Russia.
While cross-border raids on Russian territory from Ukraine are rare, the Russian military claimed in May to have killed more than 70 attackers, describing them as Ukrainian military saboteurs, in a 24-hour battle. Kyiv portrayed the incident as an uprising against the Kremlin by .
Ukraine鈥檚 foreign minister, meanwhile, welcomed what he called a sea change in Germany鈥檚 approach toward .
In an interview with Germany鈥檚 Bild newspaper, Dmytro Kuleba said that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has won 鈥渟incere and well-deserved admiration鈥� among Ukrainians for his role in the EU鈥檚 recent decision to open membership talks for Kyiv.
Ukraine has long faced strong opposition in its attempts to join the 27-member bloc from Hungary鈥檚 Prime Minister Viktor Orb谩n, who has repeatedly spoken of his desire to maintain close ties with Russia.
Scholz said that at an he proposed that Orb谩n leave the room to enable the summit to launch accession talks with Ukraine, something that the Hungarian leader agreed to do.
鈥淲hat German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did at the summit to remove the threatened Hungarian veto will go down in history as an act of German leadership in the interests of Europe. The chancellor has this week won a lot of sincere and well-deserved admiration in the hearts of Ukrainians,鈥� Kuleba told Bild.
He also voiced hope that Scholz鈥� actions would mark a 鈥渂roader and irreversible shift鈥� in Berlin鈥檚 approach towards EU negotiations with Kyiv.
鈥淲hen I campaigned in Berlin last May to grant Ukraine EU candidate status, my appeals to Germany to take the lead in this process mostly fell on deaf ears. 鈥楪ermany doesn鈥檛 want to lead,鈥� experts and politicians in Berlin told me. I am glad that German political decisions have changed since then,鈥� Kuleba said.
The Ukrainian government has long cast EU and NATO membership as key foreign policy goals, and the EU鈥檚 decision to start accelerated negotiations gave Kyiv a major boost 鈥� although it could be years before it鈥檚 able to join. NATO leaders, meanwhile, haven鈥檛 set any clear timeline so far for Kyiv鈥檚 membership bid, even as Moscow鈥檚 all-out invasion of Ukraine led another of Russia鈥檚 neighbors, Finland, to be accepted into the military alliance in April.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to build up military units near the Russian-Finnish border. The Kremlin leader declared, without giving details, that Helsinki鈥檚 NATO accession would create 鈥減roblems鈥� for the Nordic country.
鈥淭here were no problems (between Russia and Finland). Now, there will be. Because we will create (a new) military district and concentrate certain military units there,鈥� he told Russian state television on Sunday morning.
___
Vanessa Gera contributed to this report from Warsaw, Poland.
___
Karl Ritter, The Associated Press
