Air raid sirens sounded in Kiev on November 11 amid several powerful explosions as Ukraine marks the first anniversary of the liberation of Kherson in the south of the country, Radio Free Europe (RSE) reported in English.
Ukraine's Air Force issued a drone strike warning overnight, saying defense forces destroyed five drones over the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava and Kyiv regions.
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitalii Klitschko, announced on the Telegram channel that the air defense forces have been activated and that civilians should take shelter.
The alert comes as Ukraine marks the first anniversary of the liberation of the southern city of Kherson, the only regional administrative center captured by Russian forces during the invasion launched in February 2022.
In the midst of Ukraine's counteroffensive in late fall 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered troops to withdraw from the city on November 9. Kyiv announced that Kherson was liberated two days later. During the months of occupation, the city's infrastructure was significantly destroyed in strikes by Russian forces.
On Facebook, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the citizens of Kherson for their "stability and faith in Ukraine" during the occupation and "every soldier who made it possible."
In a Telegram post, General Kirilo Budanov, head of military intelligence, called the release of Kherson a "significant milestone."
During a daily briefing on November 11, the Ukrainian General Staff reported 87 clashes in the previous 24 hours, saying that Russia had carried out numerous missile and artillery strikes on military positions and populated areas.
Radio Free Europe could not independently confirm reports from the front in Ukraine.
The General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continue operations near Bakhmut in the east of the country and in other parts of the Donetsk region.
The Kremlin reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the military headquarters in southern Russia's Rostov-on-Don on November 10 for an update on military operations against Ukraine. He was reportedly accompanied by Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff. It was the fifth time that Putin visited the southern military district in the 20 months since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine.
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