WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine launches drone attack on Moscow, other regions, Russian officials say

Ukraine launched a widespread drone attack on Russia on Wednesday, with air defence units destroying three drones some 38 kms (24 miles) south of the Kremlin, and 15 over the border Bryansk region, Russian officials said.

The three attack drones heading towards Moscow were downed over the city of Podolsk in the Moscow region, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app.

"According to preliminary data, there is no damage or casualties at the site where the debris fell," Sobyanin said.

There were also no casualties or damage reported in the aftermath of the drone attack on the border Bryansk region in Russia's southwest, Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the region wrote on Telegram.

Russia's RIA state news agency reported also that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north.

Separately, Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia's southwest, said that air defence forces destroyed an Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.

It was not clear how many drones and missiles in total Ukraine launched.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

In recent months, Kyiv has stepped up its air attacks on Russian territory, saying its aim is to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts. It also says that its attacks are in response to Russia's continued strikes on Ukrainian territory.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian MOD confirms capture of New York in Donbass

Russian troops have fully captured the town of Novgorodskoye, also known as New York – one of the largest settlements in the Toretsk agglomeration in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic – Moscow reported on Tuesday.

In an update on the Russian Defense Ministry’s official Telegram channel, it is reported that units of Russia’s Center group had eliminated “a large band of enemy troops” and liberated the strategically important logistics hub.

Kiev’s forces, according to Moscow, lost more than 585 servicemen, three tanks, two vehicles, a 155-mm US-made M777 howitzer, two 152-mm D-20 guns, and three 122-mm D-30 howitzers.

Before the ministry’s confirmation on Tuesday, the capture of the town was reported by RIA Novosti on Monday.

The capture of New York, which is part of Russia’s ongoing offensive in Donbass, opens a path towards the city of Toretsk, another major Ukrainian stronghold in the region and the center of the Toretsk agglomeration – a cluster of mostly industrial towns.

New York and Toretsk are both located less than two dozen kilometers from the Donbass city of Gorlovka, where Donetsk People’s Republic militias initially took up positions back in 2014.

Ukraine later turned the towns into part of a key defensive line, while Gorlovka was subjected to regular shelling in the years prior to the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in 2022. By mid-2017, the city had reported 235 civilian deaths linked to Ukrainian attacks.

Reuters/RT