Russia-Ukraine war live: two drones shot down near Crimean bridge | Ukraine

Ukrainian forces fired three missiles at the bridge connecting occupied Crimea to Russia, forcing Russian authorities to cover the structure in white smoke to deter further attacks and prompting a furious threat of retaliation.

In the latest example of Kyiv taking the war to Russia, multiple guided S-200 rockets were fired at Kerch Bridge but they were seemingly shot down by local air defences.

A further 20 Ukrainian unmanned drones attacked targets in Crimea, the Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by the Kremlin in 2014, but Russian officials said they had also been successfully neutralised.

Russia’s foreign ministry condemned what they described as a “terrorist attack” and warned that it would not go “unanswered”.

• Explosions were reported in Kerch near the Crimean Bridge that connects the Russian-occupied Crimea with Russia. The Russian-appointed head of Crimea said Russian air defence was able to shoot down two missiles in the first attack, and then another one, and that there was no damage. Footage and photos show smoke billowing up from the bridge itself, which Russian officials said was a smoke screen for workers. This comes after an explosion in October shut down both the road bridge and rail bridge for months.

• The Russian foreign ministry decried Ukraine’s attacks on the Crimean Bridge as “terrorist attacks” on “civilian infrastructure” – even though Russian forces have repeatedly targeted civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the invasion, conducting air strikes on power grids, dams, parks, schools, private homes, churches and hotels.

• The attacks on the Crimean Bridge took place hours after Russian forces said they downed 20 Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean peninsula. This comes amid a new campaign of drone strikes targeting Moscow in recent days as Kyiv works to keep the Kremlin’s war in the hearts and minds of the Russian elites and others seeking to ignore the invasion.

• Two people were injured by Russian forces today in the Kherson oblast, where “the shelling has not stopped since morning”, said the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. A 70-year-old man suffered multiple injuries after a projectile hit a residential building in Poniativka, while a 72-year-old man was seriously injured from explosives dropped from a drone in Odradokamyanka, Prokudin said.

• A Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight in Russia’s Kaliningrad region, killing the two pilots on board, according to the RIA news agency.

• Two people have been killed in Russian attacks in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv oblasts. A police officer was killed and 12 people were injured in a guided Russian aerial bomb attack on Orikhov, while an elderly woman was killed early on Saturday morning due to shelling by Russian troops on Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi village in Kupiansk district.

• In the village of Lazurne in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson oblast, residents will not be able to receive medicines like insulin or humanitarian aid if they do not apply for a Russian passport.

• Odesa, a Black Sea city famed for its beautiful shoreline, has opened several beaches for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Throughout the past year, suspicious objects and mines were routinely washing up along the coast, creating a hazard for beachgoers.

Shortly after Russian air defence shot down two missiles in the area of the Crimean Bridge in Kerch, Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, said air defence has shot down another missile over the Kerch Strait.

The Crimean Bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, spans the Kerch Strait and connects Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia. It was built after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, and has been a frequent target of Ukrainian forces since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. In October, an explosion caused parts of the road bridge to collapse. In February, however, Moscow announced that the road bridge had been reopened to traffic. The rail bridge was fully reopened in May.

• Explosions were reported in Kerch near the Crimean Bridge that connects the Russian-occupied Crimea with Russia. The Russian-appointed head of Crimea said Russian air defence was able to shoot down two drones, and that there was no damage, but footage and photos show smoke billowing up from the bridge itself. This comes after an explosion in October shut down both the road bridge and rail bridge for months.

• Two people have been killed in Russian attacks in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv oblasts. A police officer was killed and 12 people were injured in a guided Russian aerial bomb attack on Orikhov, while an elderly woman was killed early Saturday morning due to shelling by Russian troops on Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi village in Kupiansk district.

• Russia has downed 20 Ukrainian drones targeting the Crimean peninsula, the defence ministry in Moscow has said. This comes amid a new campaign of drone strikes targeting Moscow in recent days as Kyiv works to keep the Kremlin’s war in the hearts and minds of the Russian elites and others seeking to ignore the invasion.

• Russian forces regained control of Urozhaine in the Donetsk oblast in an overnight counterattack, said Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in the Zaporizhia region under Moscow’s control.

• The general staff of Ukrainian armed forces has estimated that Russian forces lost 510 personnel yesterday. That brings the official Ukrainian estimate of total Russian personnel lost since the invasion began in February 2022 to 253,290.

• Wildfires have been destroying the nature reserve on Dzharylhach island in the Kherson oblast for the past week. The island has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the invasion in February 2022, and Ukrainians are expressing frustration and anger that Russia is apparently doing nothing to mitigate the damage. Because it is under Russian occupation, the national park administration can not take action.

• In the village of Lazurne of the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson oblast, residents will not be able to receive medicines like insulin or humanitarian aid if they do not apply for a Russian passport.

• Odesa, a Black Sea city famed for its beautiful shoreline, has opened several beaches for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Throughout the past year, suspicious objects and mines were routinely washing up along the coast, creating a hazard for any beachgoer.