Russia, Ukraine trade aerial strikes amid fears of escalation

Russia said Monday its air defences had shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine, amid heightened tensions over Kyiv's use of Western-supplied long-range arms against Russia.

Ukraine also targeted a Russian fuel depot while Russian aerial attacks wounded more than 30 in strikes on Odesa and Kharkiv, the latest wave of attacks.

The nearly three-year war has escalated dramatically over the last week, with both sides deploying new weapons as they try to secure an upper hand on the battlefield before Donald Trump enters the White House in January.

The Republican has vowed to secure a peace deal, though has not said how, and is a critic of American aid to Kyiv.

Ukraine fired US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles into Russia for the first time last week after receiving approval from Washington, prompting a furious reaction from Moscow.

Read moreUS approval for Ukraine long-range missile strikes into Russia is a slim lifeline for Kyiv

"Air defence forces shot down eight ballistic missiles," the Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing on Monday, without saying what kind of missiles were used or where they were shot down.

Moscow and Kyiv have escalated their use of long-range missiles after the United States gave Ukraine approval, long requested by Kyiv, to use the weapons against Russia.

Moscow fired an experimental hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last Thursday, with President Vladimir Putin warning the weapon, which he called Oreshnik, could be used again in combat.

Adding to tensions, a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border town of Shebekino on Monday killed a civilian, according to local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

The attack wounded another man, he said, while separate Ukrainian shelling damaged several apartments.

Russian fuel depot ablaze

Ukrainian drones meanwhile hit a fuel facility in the Russian region of Kaluga, a source in Ukrainian military intelligence said, in Kyiv's latest attack on Moscow's energy sites.

That claim came as Ukrainian authorities said a Russian missile strike had wounded nearly two dozen people in the eastern city of Kharkiv.

"As a result of an operation by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, a fuel and energy facility in the Kaluga region of Russia was hit overnight," the source said.

The Russian governor of Kaluga, which lies just south of the capital Moscow, said air defence systems in the region had downed eight drones and confirmed that an "industrial enterprise" had caught fire.

Unverified images on social media of the alleged attack showed tracer ammunition cutting through the night sky and a large blaze next to two industrial chimneys.

"The target of the attack was an oil depot of Kaluganefteprodukt JSC, which is involved in supporting Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine," the source said.

Attacks 'can be stopped'

On Monday, AFP journalists in Kharkiv saw residents and rescue workers assessing the damage and clearing rubble after the Russian strike on the town that has come under repeated bombardments since the Kremlin launched its invasion in early 2022.

Mayor Igor Terekhov said 23 people had been wounded and some 40 buildings were damaged, including official or administrative offices.

The Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 71 drones -- including the Iranian-designed Shahed -- launched by Russian forces while another 71 were "presumably" downed using electronic jamming defensive systems.

"Previously, the Shahed attacks were carried out only at night. Now the enemy is using attack UAVs during the daytime as well," the air force said in its statement.

"These Russian attacks on Ukrainian life can be stopped -- through pressure, sanctions, blocking the occupiers' access to the components they use to create the tools of this terror, military aid packages for Ukraine, and a determination that must be unwavering," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

(AFP)