War in Ukraine: 16-year-old Russian teenager killed, provocations in Transnistria… the twists and turns of the conflict in the middle of an election

Les combats ont fait plusieurs victimes ce week-end. Illustration Unsplash – Aleksey Kashmar

Two years later, Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. The re-elected president, Vladimir Putin, did not suspend the actions of his army during the elections which were being played this weekend. And even, the latter was very eventful on the front. Ukraine responded with strikes in Russia's Belgorod region while the Kremlin jostled in Russia's pro-Russian region of Transnistria.

The war knows no truce. This weekend, Ukraine and Russia continued their clashes as Vladimir Putin competed for re-election. 

New Russian assault

Air defense downed 17 drones out of 22 launched by Russia towards nine Ukrainian regions, Kyiv authorities announced on Monday. A fire broke out in the town of Kryvyï Rih, in the center of the country. Emergency personnel managed to evacuate the residents and no casualties were reported, the authorities said.

In the Kirovohrad region, the attack damaged industrial sites and residential buildings, again without any casualties being reported, the local governor said. Russian forces also launched seven missiles towards Ukraine. No information was immediately available on the damage caused by the devices that Ukraine failed to destroy.

Furthermore, in Transinistria, "Russia carried out a provocation with a kamikaze drone attack against a military unit", reports   the Ukrainian Security Council. Transnistria is a pro-Russian region bordering Ukraine.

Ukrainian strikes on Belgorod

The Ukrainian army was not to be outdone. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that 17 drones had been shot down over this region of southern Russia. A 16-year-old girl lost her life there, reports France Info. 

Five drones were also shot down over the Moscow region, without causing any casualties, the capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram, while six others were intercepted over other regions, added the Ministry of Defense.

The Russian state aviation authority indicated that Moscow airports of Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky had subsequently imposed flight restrictions for security reasons, but these were lifted less than an hour later. According to Vladimir Rogov, an official installed by Moscow in the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia controlled by Russian forces, two of the drones struck a polling station, causing a fire but without causing any casualties, he indicated on Telegram.

Reuters was unable to independently verify this information. The day before, a Ukrainian missile killed two people in the Belgorod region and a separate drone attack caused a fire at an oil refinery in the Samara region.< /p>

Almost assured of winning a new six-year mandate at the end of this election organized over three days – Russia covers eleven time zones – Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of seek to disrupt voting operations in Russia a little more than two years after the start of the latter's invasion of its neighbor.