Russia hits Zaporizhzhya with ‘kamikaze drones’ for the first time, Ukraine makes significant gains in Kherson | Top marks

Russia first attacked Zaporizhzhya with explosive ‘kamikaze drones’. Ukraine has recaptured 2,400 square kilometers of territory in the Kherson region. Here are the main developments of the story.

Ukrainian soldiers ride an armored vehicle near the recently recaptured city of Lyman in the Donetsk region (Image: AFP)

By India Today Web Desk: While Ukraine continues to make significant efforts to reclaim territory in the northeastern region of Kharkov, Kherson, Lyman and other key areas, Moscow has begun deploying drones to attack Ukrainian targets. In a first, Russia targeted Zaporizhzhya with explosive kamikaze drones as the death toll in the city on an apartment building rose to 11, AP reported.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured 2,400 square kilometers of territory in the Kherson region since the start of the large-scale war, a senior Ukrainian official told CNN. Russian troops claimed they had captured ground in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 70 with less fanfare as the war in Ukraine rages on. Putin faces the greatest challenge to his rule after the invasion of Ukraine sparked its most serious confrontation with the West. Here are the main developments of the story:

After Russian forces launched multiple attacks near the Ukrainian capital Kiev using Iranian-made hanging ammunition, often known as “kamikaze drones,” it has stepped up its attack. On Friday, four more Russian missiles were aimed at Zaporizhzhya, which is occupied by Ukraine. Zaporizhzhya is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant under Russian occupation, but it remains under the control of Ukrainian forces, the Guardian said in a report.

“Iran-made Shahed-136 drones damaged two infrastructure facilities in the city of Zaporizhzhya the first time they were used there,” regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said by AP. Kamikaze drones are less advanced than missiles, but can deal significant damage on the ground. However, Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia, calling the claims “baseless.”

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-Ukraine has claimed it has recaptured 2,400 square kilometers of territory in Kherson and is making progress in the region to reclaim the land. While Putin’s army suffers humiliating defeats in Ukraine, pro-Russian propagandists and military analysts have blamed the losses on “errors of the Russian army.”

As many as five people were killed and several others injured after Ukrainian forces hit a bus while shelling a strategically important bridge in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, Russia’s Tass news agency has reported.

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As Russian officials have said about the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, US President Joe Biden warned that Putin has pushed the risk of nuclear ‘Armageddon’ to its highest levels since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The US President said: “Putin made no joking when he talked about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.

In the wee hours of Saturday, Kharkiv saw multiple explosions as Russia concentrated its attacks in areas it has illegally annexed. Putin has illegally claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory, including the Zaporizhzhya region. No direct casualties have been reported so far.

In an effort to seize control of energy assets in Russia, President Putin has ordered the seizure of the Exxon Mobil Corp.-led oil and gas project Sakhalin-1 in Russia’s far east. It gives Russian government officials the opportunity to decide whether foreign shareholders can keep their stake in the project.

-The imprisoned Belarusian activist Ales Byalyatski, the Russian organization Memorial and the Ukrainian group Center for Civil Liberties won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. The prize will be seen by many as a condemnation of Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Reuters reported.

-The leaders of the European Union agreed to give Ukraine more financial and military aid. France has announced plans to create a fund worth 100 million euros to buy weapons directly from arms manufacturers in support of Ukraine.