Russia Strikes Khmelnytskyi Airfield as Air Raid Alerts Sweep Ukraine

Early on Friday 23 June 2023, air raid alerts were in effect across the whole of Ukraine, according to the country's military, and warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks had been issued over wide areas. Telegram channels reported explosions in several regions, from Lviv in the west, far from the frontlines, to Kherson in the south, Reuters reported. There were no immediate reports of strikes or casualties tied to those alerts.

One attack was more specific. Russia launched air attacks overnight on the Viysk airfield near the Khmelnytskyi region, said the acting governor, Serhiy Tyurin. The Guardian's lede noted the attacks were reportedly launched from the Caspian Sea. The early reporting offered no account of damage at the airfield, and the Guardian said more on the story would follow.

The night followed a Thursday of similar fire. Russia launched cruise and ballistic missiles and strike drones at Ukrainian targets, and Ukrainian officials said the strikes caused damage in the cities of Odesa and Kryvyi Rih.

Alongside the overnight events, the Guardian's live coverage gathered several other developments. The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, criticised Russia in a report to the Security Council for killing 136 children in Ukraine in 2022, and added its armed forces to a global list of offenders. The UN also verified that Russian forces and affiliated groups injured 518 children and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals. According to the report, the forces used 91 children as human shields. Guterres said he was particularly shocked by the high number of child casualties. He also said he was disturbed by the high number of offences against children by Ukrainian forces.

In southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a Thursday video address that Russia had formed special groups to collect and hide the bodies of people killed in the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam breach. He described the situation in the Russian-occupied parts of the region as "catastrophic to put it mildly".

On the battlefield, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the counteroffensive would take time but that he was optimistic about its success. He spoke on the sidelines of a Ukraine reconstruction conference in London on Thursday. His remarks followed Zelenskiy's comment that the counteroffensive might be going "slower than desired", and that he would not needlessly risk soldiers' lives to meet international expectations. Moscow had suggested there appeared to have been a break in the counteroffensive's intensity.

The London conference closed with foreign donors pledging €60bn in new financial support for Ukraine, the UK said. British foreign minister James Cleverly said the commitments from governments and international organisations were aimed at supporting Ukraine in the short and medium term.

What to watch next: whether damage at the Viysk airfield is confirmed, and whether the wide-area missile and drone warnings turn into further strikes.