An air-raid alert was issued throughout Ukraine early Friday as the country was hit by a series of air attacks by Russian forces…reports Asian Lite News
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Russia’s advance in the Kharkiv region is slowing, and the frontline is stabilizing following the lifting of restrictions on Kyiv’s use of donated weapons on Russian territory.
“What I see is a slowing of the Russians’ advance and a stabilising of that particular piece of the front. Now, I think we’ll see incremental gains — and we’ll see puts and takes — going forward,” Austin told reporters at a NATO defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
He added, “A couple of weeks ago, there was concern that we would see a significant breakthrough by the Russians. I don’t think we’ll see that going forward.”
Meanwhile, an air-raid alert was issued throughout Ukraine early Friday as the country was hit by a series of air attacks by Russian forces, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.
According to the statement, several batches of missiles entered Ukraine over the airspace of the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions early Friday and moved towards Kyiv, the western city of Rivne and the town of Starokonstyantyniv in the western Khmelnytskyi region, reports Xinhua news agency.
During the second wave of the attacks, Russia launched a Kinzhal missile at Ukraine, said the statement.
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital and the Khmelnytskyi region during the air alert, Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne reported.
The Starokonstyantyniv airfield, which supposedly will host F-16 fighters, has long been targeted by Russian forces.
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