Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyiv area for the first time in weeks Thursday and pounded the northern Chernihiv region as well, in what Ukraine said was rev🎐enge for standing up to the Kremlin.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, announced a counteroffensive to take back the occupied Kherson region in the country's south, territory seized by Russian Pr🧜esi🃏dent Vladimir Putin's forces early in the war.
The Vyshg🐷orod district on the outskirts of Kyiv was targeted early in the morning, and an “infrastructure object” was hit, regional Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.
There was no immediate word on an☂y casualties. Vyshgorod is 20 kilometers north of theꦬ capital's centre.
Kuleba linked the strikes to the Day of Statehood, a commemoration thaꦰt President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instituted last year aꦑnd Ukraine marked for the time on Thursday.
“Rusꩵsia, with the help of missiles, is mounting revenge for the widespre𓄧ad popular resistance, which the Ukrainians were able to organise precisely because of their statehood,” Kuleba told Ukrainian television.
“Ukraine has already broken Russi🌞a's plans and will continue to defend itself.”
Chernihiv regional Gov. Vyacheslav Chaus reported that the Russians also fired missiles from the 🐻territory of Belarus at the village of Honch𒊎arivska.
The Chernihiv reﷺgion h♓ad not been targeted in weeks.
Russian troops withdrew 🔯from the Kyiv and Chernihiv region♏s months ago after failing to capture either.
The renewed strikes come a day after the leader of pro-Kremlin separatists in the east, Denis Pushilin, urged Russian forces to “liberate R෴ussian cities founded by the Russian people — Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk.”
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, also came under a barrage of shelling overnight, according to the mayor. The southern city of🅘 Mykolaiv was fired on as well, with one person reported injured.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military kept up a counterattack in the Kherson region, knocking out of commission a key b♏ridge over the Dnieper River on Wednesday.
Ukrainian media quoted Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy 🔜Arestovich as saying the operation to liberate Kherson is underway, with Kyiv'𝓡s forces planning to isolate Russian troops and leave them with three options — "retreat, if possible, surrender or be destroyed."
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defe🦄nse Council, said the Russians are concentrating maximum forces in the direction of Khers🎶on, warning: “A very large-scale movement of their troops has begun.”
The British military said Ukraine has used its new, Western-supplied long-raꦿnge artillery to damage at least three of the bridges across the Dnieper that Russia relies on to supply its forces.
Ukraine's presidential office said Thursday morning that Russian shelling of cities a𝓰nd villages over the past 24 hours killed at least five civilians, all of them in the eastern Donetsk 𒁃province, and wounded nine.
Fighting in recent weeks has focusꦛed on Donetsk prov𒁃ince.
It has intensified in recent days as Russian forces appeared to emerge from ꦓa reported “operational pause” after capturing neighbouring Luhansk province.
A missile struck a residential bu🧜ilding in Toretsk early Thursday morning, destroying two floors.
“Missile terror again. We🌺 will not give up. ... We will not be intimidated,” Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram.
Military analysts believꦯe Russian forces are focusing their efforts on capturing the cities of Bakhmut and Siversk in Donetsk province.
Zelenskyy instituted the Day of Statehood to remind Ukrainians abဣout the country's history as an independent state.
The commemoration honors Prince Vladimir, who made Christianity the official religion of the medieval state of Kyivan Rus more than 1,000 ye🌳ars ago.
The Kremlin also lays claim to the heritage of Kyivan Rus. In 2016, Putin erected a monument to Prince Vladimir near the Kremlin.
