Russia said on Saturday it had shot down eight US-supplied ATACMS missiles, whose use Moscow has warned could spark a hypersonic ballistic missile attack on central Kyiv.
ATACMS missiles have a maximum range of 190 miles (300 kilometers), according to publicly available data.
“Air defense systems downed eight ATACMS US-made missiles and 72 drones,” the Russian defense ministry told news agencies without specifying whether there were any casualties or damage.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden‘s administration has supplied long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine which can penetrate inside Russia, provoking retaliation from Moscow which has responded with its new hypersonic missile.
The ministry also said it had captured the Ukrainian village of Nadiia, one of the few settlements in the eastern Lugansk region still under Kyiv’s control.
Moscow advanced by almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,540 square miles) in Ukraine in 2024, according to an AFP analysis, as Kyiv’s army struggled with chronic manpower shortages and exhaustion.
Both sides have accused each other of fatal attacks on civilians since the year began.
A Russian strike on a village in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region earlier on Saturday killed a 74-year-old man, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.
