Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine’s capital from neighboring Belarus early Thursday as Kyiv’s counter-offensive in the crucial city of Kherson appeared to be gathering momentum. At least 20 missiles were fired from Belarus, Moscow’s key ally in its five-month-old invasion of Ukraine, striking an apartment block in the Chernihiv region as well as buildings outside the country’s capital.
The attacks near Kyiv came as Ukrainian forces in the east, bolstered by U.S.- and Western-supplied weaponry, were poised to launch the first major counterattack of the five-month war, aiming to reclaim land taken by Russian forces and their separatist allies around the strategic city of Kherson early in the fighting.