kyiv reports that several Russian bombers have taken off

Ukraine alert. A group of Russian bombers had taken off from a base in Russia early on Thursday, raising fears of a bombing threat.

Several Tupolev Tu-95MS were recorded taking off from the Olenya airfield in the Murmansk region of northeastern Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a message posted on the social network Telegram.

At the end of December, 39 people died in the strikes

The Air Force had already announced in early February and last month that these strategic bombers had departed from the Soviet era.

In late December, Russia used these planes to bomb Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev, killing 39 people.

A “very complicated” situation on the front

Ukraine's new commander-in-chief Oleksandr Chirsky on Wednesday deemed the situation on the battlefield “extremely complicated,” admitting that Ukraine lacks men and weapons, while a new envelope of US aid has been blocked in Congress.

Still, Kyiv can boast of continuing to harass the Russian navy in the Black Sea, claiming responsibility for the destruction of another ship there on Wednesday. NATO thus hailed Russia's “huge losses” at sea and saw it as a “huge victory” for Ukrainian forces.

On the ground, however, the scale of the task to reclaim the nearly 20% of territory occupied by Moscow remains enormous.