Sixteen injured in Russian strike on Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region, Ukrainian drones shot down over Russian region and annexed Crimea

It is day 609 of the war in Ukraine. A total of 16 people were injured by a Russian strike on Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region.

The Russian Defence Ministry reported downing five drones over the western Bryansk region and annexed Crimea.

Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of Roscosmos, reportedly proposed striking Ukraine with a space rocket in January.

Novaya-Europe’s news roundup will brief you on the main developments overnight.

Sixteen injured in Russian strike on western Ukraine

A total of sixteen civilians were injured in a Russian strike on the Ukrainian western Khmelnytskyi region, the local military administration reported on Wednesday. 

The authorities said that unspecified “targets” had been intercepted over the region, with their debris falling on a “critical infrastructure facility” and causing damage to both residential and non-residential buildings, as well as vehicles.

Five drones downed over western Russia and annexed Crimea

A total of four fixed-wing drones were intercepted overnight in western Russia’s Bryansk region, Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz reported on Wednesday.

One more drone was downed over annexed Crimea, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol said on Tuesday. The drone, which was “forced to land by electronic warfare devices”, exploded on impact with the ground, causing no damage, he said.

Pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar said that two explosions had been reported in Sevastopol late on Tuesday night, which it alleged were caused by “two Ukrainian missiles targeting military facilities in the city”. 

The Crimean Wind Telegram channel claimed that “an American spy drone” had been overflying the city to observe how Russia’s air defences were reacting to the attack.

Russia’s former space chief proposed striking Ukraine with space rocket 

Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, made a proposal to Russian President Vladimir Putin in January to attack cities in Ukraine with rockets designed for use in space, German newspaper Bild reported on Tuesday.

The Bild story referred to a recorded phone call between Rogozin and Dmitry Baranov, the director of the Progress Rocket Space Centre. The two discussed a potential strike on a large Ukrainian city, using a space rocket rigged with explosives and launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

Baranov cautioned Rogozin that demolition bombs or guided warheads could overheat and veer 50 to 100 km away from the target. He also feared that the rocket’s debris might land on Russian territory.

Rogozin reportedly asked Baranov how much time such a strike would take to prepare, telling him that he was due to meet with “someone who would meet the boss in three days”, a reference to Anton Vaino, the Kremlin chief of staff. Bild said that the Russian president was told of Rogozin’s plan on 16 January.

Rogozin worked as Russia’s ambassador to NATO between 2008 and 2011 and as the head of Roscosmos from 2018 to July 2022. In September 2023, he was appointed a senator to represent the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine in Russia’s upper house of parliament.