Olusegun Ariyo
Russia launched an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, which provides the country with access to the Black Sea, and struck Kryvyi Rih in what Ukrainian officials described on Wednesday as the war’s biggest drone attack on the city.
Recall that the United States reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks over the Black Sea and against each other’s energy targets.
However, it was not immediately clear when and how the agreements would take effect.
The mayor of Mykolaiv reported emergency power outages early Wednesday following a statement from the region’s governor that seven drones had been destroyed overnight.
At the time of filing this report, it remained unclear whether the power cuts were precautionary or a direct result of the attack.
The head of Kryvyi Rih’s military administration said Russia also targeted the central Ukrainian city, igniting fires and damaging buildings but causing no deaths.
The Ukrainian military reported that its air defense units had shot down 56 of the 117 drones launched by Russia in the overnight assault.
It added that 48 drones were “lost,” referring to Ukrainian forces redirecting them using electronic warfare.
“Apparently, this is how the occupiers ‘want peace’,” Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, describing it as the largest drone attack on the city since the war began.
Vilkul had reported no fewer than 15 explosions in Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown and a frequent target of Russian strikes.
There was no immediate comment from Russia at the time of filing this report, but the Russian defense ministry stated that its air defense units had destroyed nine Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the Black Sea.
