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Vladimir Putin appears to be retaliating for Ukraine’s ‘Pearl Harbour’ ambush on Russia, as Ukraine was rocked by major new strikes today.
The overnight attacks came after ‘peace talks’ in Istanbul failed to agree to a ceasefire in the war.
Two days after the humiliation of Ukraine’s drone strikes devastating his key airbases in Sunday’s Operation Spiderweb ambush, Putin has not appeared publicly.
Cities across Ukraine were on fire today in savage new Russian strikes as the Kremlin dictator began exacting revenge for the destruction and damage to his nuclear-capable T-95MS and Tu-22M aircraft.
At least three people were killed and two wounded in shelling on the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region.
In the Kharkiv region, one person was killed and another injured as Putin’s forces struck civilian areas, damaging a postal terminal and warehouse.
Russian drones exploded in residential buildings in Chernihiv, with multiple casualties reported.
In Odesa, four people were injured as fires blazed in the Black Sea port city, including at a warehouse filled with food products.
The onslaught of Russian missile attacks could be revenge for Ukraine’s attack on scores of Putin’s nuclear bombers in a mass drone attack on airfields across Russia.
At least 40 war planes were destroyed in what was described as ‘the worst day in the history of the Russian air force’.
The operation, codenamed ‘Spider Web’ and in planning for a year and a half, was launched by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on Sunday.
It targeted airfields thousands of miles from the frontline, sources told the Kyiv Independent.
The drones are understood to have been launched from trucks near to the airfields.
The planes hit by Ukraine are expensive and vital parts of Russia’s arsenal, with A-50 jets costing as much as £260 million each.
Russia only has fewer than 10 of these planes in its possession.
Other planes hit were the former nuclear bombers, the Tu-95s, and the more modern Tu-22s and Tu-160s, the largest operational bomber in the world.
Where are Russian forces now?
Russian forces are currently advancing inside Ukraine in the Sumy region, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Ukraine struck back against the advancing troops by destroying two power plants in Melitopol and Genichesk, leaving some 600,000 people without power in the occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson territories.
The massive blackout was blamed on ‘shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ and damage to high-voltage equipment, said Putin-installed ‘governor’ Yevgeny Balitsky.
Earlier today, Russia abruptly closed the £3 billion Crimean Bridge, linking its mainland to the Black Sea peninsula.
There was one unconfirmed report of a marine drone strike on the structure.
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