Russia-Ukraine war live: drones hit planes at Russian airbase as six regions report attacks; two dead in Kyiv attack | Ukraine

Also early on Wednesday, the local Moscow-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev was cited as saying by Tass that Russian defenses repelled a “seaborne drone attack” near Sevastopol Bay in Crimea.

Sevastopol is the base of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

“Anti-submarine … forces have completed their work,” Razvozhayev said, without giving details.

Here is what we know about Russia’s claimed attack on Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea.

An aircraft “destroyed four high-speed military boats” around midnight Moscow time, the Russian defense ministry wrote on Telegram.

The boats had been carrying “landing groups of Ukrainian special operations forces with a total number of up to 50 people”, the ministry said.

It did not give details on exactly where in the Black Sea the claimed incident took place.

The US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War reports that the Kremlin appears to be “promoting five main information operations against Ukraine”.

In its daily update, the ISW wrote:

The Russian narratives include claims that Ukraine is conducting mass mobilisation regardless of age, gender, or health; claims that Ukraine’s Western partners are disappointed in Ukraine‘s prospects for victory; claims that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is failing; claims that the Ukrainian government is completely corrupt and is not fighting corruption and; claims that Russian authorities provide good living standards and conditions in occupied Ukraine. Russian First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko and Russian media representatives reportedly attended the meeting. ISW has observed all five false narratives in the Russian information space.

Here is more detail on the attacks on Kyiv, via AFP:

Two killed by falling debris after missile strike on Kyiv: Authorities

Two people were killed by falling debris after a missile strike on Kyiv, the local military administration said on Wednesday.

“As a result of debris falling in Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv… 2 people died, according to initial reports,” Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.

Another person was injured and was being given medical assistance, he said.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that “two dead men were found” in a non-residential building in Shevchenkivskyi district.

He did not specify how they died nor whether they were the same two reported by the city’s military administration.

The regional military administration had earlier warned of a missile attack and said air defenses were operating.

An AFP reporter heard at least three loud explosions in the center of Kyiv around 5  a.m. local time (0200 GMT).

Emergency services had also deployed to the southern Darnytskyi district, where debris had fallen onto a commercial building, Popko wrote on Telegram.

Here is a bit more detail on the drone attack in Kaluga, Russia.

One drone was brought down and another hit an empty oil reservoir, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished, region Governor Vladislav Shapsha reported. Residential windows were shattered, Shapsha said.

At least two people were killed and one wounded in an attack on Kyiv on Wednesday morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app, as debris from targets destroyed by air defenses fell on several buildings in the Ukrainian capital.

The bodies of two people were found in a nonresidential building and one person was wounded by glass shards, Klitschko said.

Several buildings were on fire, he said. Klitschko did not say whether the debris was from missiles or drones.

Here is a little more detail on the attacks on Kyiv, via Reuters:

Explosions were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Wednesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app, and debris from targets destroyed by air defenses damaged several buildings in the Ukrainian capital.

Klitschko said a store building and an administrative building were on fire and one person had been wounded by glass shards. He did not say whether the debris was from missiles or drones.

Also on early Wednesday, Russian-installed officials in the annexed Crimea reported repelling an attack of drones targeting the harbor of the port city of Sevastopol, the Associated Press reports.

Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozzhayev said it wasn’t immediately clear how many of the drones have been destroyed. It wasn’t immediately clear if the attack caused any damage.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko has provided more details about the attacks on Kyiv. No victims have been found, he said on Telegram, and fires are being extinguished in Darnytskyi and Schevchenkiv –in the former, as a result of what appeared to be the falling debris from a drone or missile:

At the addresses of medical calls, so far, no victims have been found.

Fire and rescue services are extinguishing a fire in the Darnytskyi district, which is burning after debris fell on the roof of a commercial premises.

And in the Shevchenkiv district, where a fire broke out in the administration building.

The UK ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, posted 20 minutes ago to say that she was sheltering in Kyiv and could hear “a lot of explosions”:

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reports that explosions have been heard in Kyiv and that emergency services have been called to the Shevchenkivskyi district of the city.

“In the Darnytskyi district, debris fell on the roof of a commercial premises. In Shevchenkivskyi – also falling debris. All services follow in place,” Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko wrote on Telegram.

“Medics went to calls at two addresses in Shevchenkivskyi district. Details – later.”

Here is a map showing where Ukrainian drones have reportedly been shot down in Russia overnight:

Former Nato official Edward Hunter-Christie has said online of tonight’s attacks that they prove “the air war is now genuinely mutual”.

On Twitter, he wrote:

It is a long night. But to think that the air war is now genuinely mutual, and on the Ukrainian side based solely on Ukrainian-made systems, is extraordinary. Russia has lost the initiative and the ability to shape events in every domain. Ukraine is gaining both, in all domains.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced a new package of military assistance to aid Ukraine.

The package includes additional mine clearing equipment, missiles for air defense, ammunition for artillery and high bar systems, and over three million rounds of small arms ammunition, Blinken said in a statement.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has reported what it says are Ukrainian drones targeting six Russian regions in the early hours of Wednesday in what appears to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil throughout this phase of the war – in other words, since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region and were shot down over the regions of Moscow, Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan, and Kaluga.

The strike in Pskov started a massive fire and four Il-78 transport aircraft were damaged, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.

Pskov regional Governor Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the Pskov airport canceled Wednesday, citing the need to assess the damage during daylight.

Footage and images posted on social media overnight showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov, and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there were no casualties, and the fire had been contained.

The Associated Press reports that tonight’s attacks on Russia “appear to be the “biggest drone attack on Russian soil in 18 months,” as attacks are reported in six regions.

The regions where the Guardian has so far seen reports of drone attacks – confirmed by Russia’s military – are: