The Russian Navy intensifies its attacks in western Ukraine

Russia has confirmed this Friday bombings against two Ukrainian air bases in the cities of Ivano-Frankivsk and Lutsk, located in the west of the country, on the sixteenth day since the start of the war in Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defense has indicated that both bases “have been taken out of service”, without giving further details, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.

The president of the administration of the Volyn region, Yuri Poguliaiko, for his part, has indicated that at least two soldiers have died and six have been injured as a result of the bombing in Lutsklocated about 90 kilometers east of the Polish border, as reported by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.

Lutsk Mayor Igor Polischuk called on residents to rush to shelters after hearing the first explosions in the city. According to sources from the Ukrainian network ICTV, the target of the attack may have been the city’s military airfield and a nearby factory.

Mijailo Podoliak, one of the advisers to the Presidency of Ukraine, has denounced that “large cities in Ukraine are once again subjected to devastating blows” and has pointed out that, in addition to the bombings against Ivano-Frankivsk and Lustsk, the city has been hit from Dnipro in the center-east.

The ICTV network has confirmed three air strikes in Dnipro. According to this television network, the shells fell near a kindergarten, an apartment building and a shoe factory.

For his part, the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ruslan Martsinkiv, has confirmed on his page in the social network Facebook the attacks against the city, according to UNIAN. “Please do not distribute photos and videos of the explosions. We are investigating why the alarm systems did not sound,” he said, before noting that the airport has been hit in the attack.

The attacks are the first against these three cities since the beginning of the Russian military offensive.