Ukraine shot down 28 missiles and 15 drones as its capital Kyiv suffered “the most powerful” Russian attack yet. The Kyiv City Military Administration confirmed on Telegram that two were killed and dozens injured in the shelling as authorities cleared broken glass from the city streets. 

Russian authorities also said that they had destroyed four Ukrainian fast-attack boats in the Black Sea. This has yet to be independently confirmed.

Meanwhile, just after the Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private funeral yesterday, Ukraine launched its biggest drone offensive in Russian territory. Drones were recorded in six Russian regions: Pskov, Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov, Ryazan and the Moscow region. 

The most damaging of these blew up four IL-76 transport planes at an airfield in Pskov, over 400 miles from the Ukrainian border. The Kremlin said these attacks “will not go unpunished”.

Ukraine’s allies have been clear that under no circumstances must the country use any Western-supplied weapons on Russian soil. Western nations have provided military assistance to Ukraine on the basis that these weapons must only be used in Ukrainian territory for self-defence.

Despite this, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has just announced the “next package of military assistance” to help Ukraine’s war effort. This includes: “AIM-9M missiles for air defense, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, mine-clearing equipment, Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets, over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, ambulances, demolition munitions for obstacle clearing, as well as spare parts, services, training, and transportation.” The US says this amounts to around $250 million. 

As both sides mount their strongest attacks to date, the Kremlin has for the first time said that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane could have been brought down deliberately. Until now, the Kremlin has denied any possibility of assassination. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that, although there will not be any international investigation, Russian officials are considering the possibility of “let’s say, a deliberate atrocity.” Peskov was clear that no conclusions had been drawn yet and an international investigation was some way off: “Let’s wait for the results of our Russian investigation.”

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