A massive attack took place before the visit of the new French Foreign Minister to kyiv.
Russia launched dozens of strikes across Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, as kyiv continued its diplomatic efforts to increase military support and aid.
“In total 40 enemy air attack means were recorded,” the air force said Saturday, adding that eight missiles were destroyed. “More than 20 devices” failed to hit their targets due to “active measures using electronic warfare.”
Russia said it destroyed all targets in a barrage of attacks on facilities producing munitions and drones in Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its armed forces “carried out a group attack… against facilities of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.”
He said he was targeting places that produce projectiles, gunpowder and unmanned aerial vehicles. “All designated facilities were hit,” she added.
No fatalities have been reported so far, but Ukrainian authorities said one civilian was injured in the northeastern region of Sumy.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia fired Kinzhal missiles, perhaps the most difficult conventional Russian missile to shoot down, moving at several times the speed of sound.
The missiles were shot down in at least five regions of Ukraine, according to local officials in those provinces.
Police in the northern Chernihiv region released a photograph of a large crater created by a fallen missile.
“As a result of the impact of enemy missile debris, several private houses and non-residential buildings were damaged, one building was practically destroyed,” police wrote, adding that a dog was killed but no people were injured.
The air force of Ukraine's neighbor Poland said it had briefly activated air defense systems due to the increased threat level.
The attacks took place as France's newly appointed Foreign Minister Stéphane Sejourne arrived in Kiev on Saturday for his first official trip abroad, in a sign of support as the Russian invasion of Ukraine heads into its second year.
At a news conference in Kiev, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised Sejourne for not “being intimidated by Russia's latest large-scale missile attack” and arriving in the Ukrainian capital so soon after his appointment on Thursday, which he said “says a lot about France's foreign policy priorities.”
Sejourne confirmed that his visit was a “message to Ukrainians.”
“Ukraine is and will continue to be France's priority,” he said. “Our determination is intact and so is our admiration for the courage of the Ukrainian people during this difficult time.”
He added that he would work in the coming days and weeks to resolve bilateral and European Union legal issues to help French companies establish more military production facilities in Ukraine, without saying what those legal issues were.
Sejourne also encouraged French companies to invest in Ukraine, mentioning the transport, energy, telecommunications and water sectors.
The visit follows that of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday, where he revealed new military funding for Ukraine and assured the country that the West continues to provide support.
Sunak and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bilateral security agreement for the next 10 years. It will remain in force until Ukraine gains long-awaited NATO membership, Zelenskyy said.
