MOSCOW: The Russian defence ministry announced on Sunday that its planes had shot down two Ukrainian aircraft, an SU-25 in the Kharkiv region and a MI-17 helicopter near the town of Sloviansk in the country’s east.
The assertion was made in the wake of news that Moscow has intensified its military operation in Ukraine.
The Russian army also claimed that its long-range air-based missiles had destroyed a depot of Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied by NATO nations in the Ukrainian town of Odesa.
The largest nuclear power station on the continent, according to the European Union, is being utilised by Moscow to stockpile armaments and launch missiles against the surrounding areas of southern Ukraine.
According to Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy organisation, the situation at the seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is “very severe,” and the Russians have deployed missile launchers and exploited the facility to shell the Dnipro region.
Regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko claimed on Saturday that Grad missiles had blasted residential areas, describing the situation as “a deluge of fire.”
In the riverbank city of Nikopol, “Rescuers recovered two deceased victims under the ruins,” he reported.
Following the transmission of the suggested actions, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, declared that “Moscow must continue to pay a hefty price for its aggression.”
A senior EU official predicts that although first sanctions negotiations will take place in Brussels on Monday, no decision will be made that day.