Just after 11 p.m. Kyiv time on Monday, Russian missiles and drones targeted the capital area as Ukrainian air defenses shot down most of them, with no casualties or major damage reported as of Tuesday morning, local time.
“Stay in shelters until the air alert is canceled!" Serhii Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, wrote on Telegram as air raid sirens rang out.
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Later, he assessed:
“The enemy carried out a missile attack in the [sector] of Kyiv and its outskirts,” Popko wrote. “Air defense forces and equipment operated in the capital and on the outskirts of the city. According to preliminary data, enemy missiles were hit,” he said. “As of now, no damage or casualties have been recorded in Kyiv,” he added.
Last Wednesday, Russia fired 89 drones at Ukraine, AFP reported, more than 40 of which were shot down over the capital of Kyiv and in its surrounding area in one of the largest aerial barrages in months.
The capital has been on edge ever since a wave of Russian air strikes tore through civilian neighborhoods of Kyiv, including a children’s hospital about a month ago.
As F-16s arrive, Kyiv releases the first official footage of Storm Shadow missiles in combat
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, simultaneous with the first arrivals of US-made F-16 fighters, the Ukrainian Air Force on Sunday posted footage that included clips of the British-French Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles being launched from an aircraft. According to Business Insider, quoting an international defense publication, this was the first time the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) has released such footage.
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It said they were shown being fired from a Su-24, one of the Soviet-era jets that Ukraine has been using to carry the missiles before the very recent arrival of US-made F-16s. (The missiles were designed to be launched from European fighters, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The AFU also said the video was the first official footage that captured a live launch of the missile.
In the video, one missile bore a UK flag, and one had a French one, with the French name for the weapon, SCALP. Britain was the first to give Ukraine cruise missiles when it sent the first Storm Shadows in May 2023.
Ukraine has used the Storm Shadows for far-reaching strikes, including attacks on Russian ships and headquarters in Crimea that led to the withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet to a headquarters further east.
The commander of the Ukraine Air Force, Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, commented Monday: “The battle for the sky rages on. The enemy is attacking us with bombs and missiles around the clock, conducting aerial reconnaissance, and launching strikes using drones every night. The Air Force, side by side with the air defense of the entire Ukrainian defense forces, has been repelling the attacks.
“The Air Force has destroyed over 8,000 enemy aerial targets over the past two and a half years: hundreds of warplanes and helicopters, thousands of cruise missiles and drones. Ukrainian pilots have conducted over 20,000 sorties, most of them involving the combat use of aerial weapons.”
On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a press conference in front of a pair of donated Western F-16s, which typically carry missiles other than the European-made Storm Shadows.
Kyiv already has other missiles that can be used with F-16s, notably the US-provided AGM-88 HARM missiles, used to destroy enemy radar systems. More such air-to-ground missiles are coming with the new aircraft arrivals.
Two Russian MoD officials charged with corruption in the “Patriot Park” construction project
Russian newswire TASS reported on Monday that two high-ranking officials in the Kremlin’s Ministry of Defense have been charged with embezzlement in connection with the construction of Patriot Park, a new Moscow landmark that was championed by now-dismissed Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu.
The state news outlet reported that Russian authorities detained the head of Patriot Park, Vyacheslav Akhmedov, and Deputy Head of the Russian MoD's Directorate for Innovative Development Major General Vladimir Shesterov, on suspicion of large-scale fraud. Russian law enforcement told TASS that they suspect Akhmedov and Shesterov of embezzling more than 40 million rubles (roughly $471,000) during public procurement for the park.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) explained that Patriot Park was reportedly the personal project of former Defense Minister and current Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu. “Recently detained former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov reportedly oversaw the construction of the park,” ISW analysts reported.
A Russian milblogger cited by ISW wrote that Akhmedov’s and Shesterov’s arrests were overdue, as both were part of the “old team” that controlled the Ministry under Shoigu’s leadership and went on to say that their arrests were “indicative” of Shoigu’s diminishing influence.
Another Russian insider cited by ISW suggested that recently dismissed former Deputy Defense Minister General Pavel Popov, “who is reportedly involved with Russia’s National Defense Control Center, could be the next high-ranking MoD official to be arrested” as the Kremlin appears to be in a process of “cleaning house” of Shoigu’s old guard affiliates under the Ministry’s new leadership.
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