Ukraine says it destroyed Russian air defense system in Crimea

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country's military destroyed a Russian air defense system in Crimea, the region Moscow unilaterally annexed in 2014.

Zelenskyy released a video on Thursday after the military announced the destruction of the surface-to-air defense system near Yevpatoriya in western Crimea.

The president praised the Security Service and the Navy for "the destruction of the occupiers' air defense system," calling it "a very significant achievement."

In August, Ukraine said its forces destroyed Russia's state-of-the-art S400 surface-to-air missile system in Crimea.

The Institute for the Study of War said the latest strike is the second by Ukraine "on a significant Russian air defense system in recent weeks."

The US think tank said this suggests that "there may be systemic tactical failures with Russian air defense systems in occupied Crimea."

On Friday, the Ukrainian military announced that it recaptured the village of Andriivka about 10 kilometers south of the battleground city of Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said counteroffensives are continuing towards Bakhmut and the key city of Melitopol in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. It stressed that they are liberating occupied regions despite fierce Russian attacks.