Russia has reported a new series of drone attacks on its territory which authorities say killed at least one person in a region bordering Ukraine and again forced the temporary closure of three major airports serving Moscow.
For its part, the Ukrainian army has recently made “significant new tactical progress in western Zaporizhia Oblast”, now appearing “within striking range of the next series of Russian defensive positions”, according to the group of reflection on war Institute for the Study of War. Reuters reported on Saturday August 26 that a Ukrainian commander fighting in southern Ukraine said Ukrainian forces believed they had broken through the most difficult Russian defense line in the region and would now be able to advance. faster.
Ukraine: three pilots killed in an accidental collision
Three Ukrainian Air Force pilots, including a decorated officer, were killed Friday in a collision between two Ukrainian aircraft, the country’s authorities announced on Saturday. This accident represents a major setback for kyiv, which has just obtained promises of deliveries of American F-16 planes to reinforce its fleet dating from the Soviet era.
“We send our condolences to the families of the victims. This is a painful and irreparable loss for all of us,” the Ukrainian Air Force said, calling the crash “terrible”. The crash took place in the Zhytomyr region of northern Ukraine and involved two L-39 combat training jets, she added, adding that an investigation was ongoing. An air force spokesman, Yuriy Ignat, said one of the pilots killed – Andrii Pilshchykov, known by the nickname “Juice” – was a young officer with “super knowledge and a great talent.”
A drone hits a building in Kursk, Russia
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, a drone hit the facade of a building on Karl-Marx Street in Kursk, said Roman Starovoit, governor of the Russian oblast on the border with Ukraine. “There was no fire and no residents were injured”, but the shock wave shattered windows of the faculty of engineering of the university of agronomy, which is is in the same street, he said on the social network Telegram, taken over by the World.
kyiv destroyed four cruise missiles
Kyiv destroyed four cruise missiles over northern and southern Ukraine in a nighttime Russian airstrike, the Kyiv Air Force reported on Sunday August 27, adding that it had detected up to eight airborne targets but no hits were immediately reported – the other targets were “probably fake”. The Air Force also said the attack involved five Russian strategic bombers.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down two drones overnight Sunday in two border regions of Ukraine. One drone was shot down over the Bryansk region in western Russia and another in the Kursk region just south of it, the ministry said on the Telegram channel.
Wagner: towards a downsizing, according to British intelligence
The Wagner Group is likely heading towards downsizing and there is a realistic possibility that the Kremlin will no longer fund the group, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. While it is true that the Russian state is no longer paying Wagner, analysts believe that “Belarusian authorities are the second most plausible payers”.