Russia expands targeting of Ukrainian facilities in preparation for winter
Ukraine was targeted, from Thursday night to Friday, by a “huge” attack launched by Russia using 40 drones, more than half of which were shot down, according to what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced. Zelensky said, via the Telegram application: “Last night, about 40 (Iranian-made Shahed drones) were sent. More than half of them were shot down,” he said, stressing that they left “traces” on the ground. The Ukrainian response to this attack recorded limited success compared to its success in stopping previous attacks, as the Ukrainian defenses were able to shoot down all the drones, according to Agence France-Presse. Zelensky added that the Russian drones targeted 10 Ukrainian regions, including Kharkiv and Zaporizhya on the front lines, the capital, Kiev, and Lviv in the west of the country. The Ukrainian president confirmed that the attack did not cause casualties.
Winter strategy
Kiev and its Western allies are warning that Russia is intensifying its missile strikes and bombing with drones, in a military strategy aimed at paralyzing energy facilities in Ukraine during the winter. In this context, Zelensky said that he realizes that as winter approaches, the Russians will try to cause more damage, pledging to “respond to the enemy forcefully.” Zelensky also pledged to further strengthen Ukraine’s air defense system, which relies on arms supplies from Kiev’s Western allies.
Firefighters try to put out a fire resulting from a march attack in Kharkiv on Friday (AFP)
Regarding the widespread drone attack on Friday night, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, Andriy Yermak, indicated that 24 Shahed-136/131 drones were shot down, in addition to a missile, stressing that “Russian forces are gradually increasing their air attacks on Ukraine.” Yermak explained, “The battle to control the airspace is what awaits us. This battle will be for our facilities and infrastructure.”
In turn, Interior Minister Igor Klimenko described the attack as “huge.” Meanwhile, the mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhov, confirmed that a building belonging to an educational institution was “severely damaged” by the attack, and that electricity was cut off in one of the city’s neighborhoods in order to make repairs. He pointed out that other drones struck a gas station, a building where displaced people reside, and residential buildings. The administrations of other Ukrainian regions reported damage to their facilities and buildings.
Ukrainian army spokeswoman Natalia Gomniuk said about a “difficult and tense” situation on the southern front, also referring to the “strong” Russian attack with Russian drones. She added: “The air defense forces in our region had been operating for about 5 hours,” mentioning that a facility was hit by a drone, but without Recording “serious damage.” She noted that previous attacks with less massive Russian drones were perhaps aimed at discovering the locations of Ukrainian air defense systems.
Ukrainian aid… and the Taliban
In a related context, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that some Western weapons destined for Ukraine reach the Middle East through the illicit arms market and are sold to the Taliban. “They now say that weapons reach the Middle East through Ukraine,” Putin said on Friday. Yes, of course this happens because they are sold. The weapons are sold to the Taliban and from there they move to elsewhere,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Putin delivers a speech at a museum in Moscow (EPA)
Western countries have been supporting Ukraine with weapons worth tens of billions of dollars since the war began on February 24 of last year. Ukraine says that it subjects any weapons imported to it to strict control, but some Western security officials have raised concerns in this direction, and the United States has asked Ukraine to make more efforts to address the issue of corruption. In June 2022, Interpol head Jürgen Stock warned that some advanced weapons sent to Ukraine would end up in the hands of organized crime groups. While a report on the Ukraine war and the illicit arms trade, issued by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime in March, stated that “at present, no significant quantities of weapons are exiting the conflict zone in Ukraine.” The report added: “All precedents indicate that if the threat is not dealt with proactively and innovatively, once the current war ends, Ukrainian battlefields will turn into a new warehouse of chaos that will arm all the rebels in Africa and the gangsters on the streets of Europe.”
Ukrainian soldiers carry ammunition on one of the fighting fronts in Lugansk, Thursday (Reuters)
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks donors, the eight major Western countries, led by the United States, have made military commitments to Ukraine worth more than 84 billion euros ($90 billion).
US sanctions
The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Russia will “overcome” the new US sanctions announced by Washington the day before, after Russian companies became able to “adapt” to them, in the twenty-first month of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.
Extinguishing a fire resulting from an attack with marches in Kharkiv on Friday (AFP)
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the sanctions “certainly pose certain problems, but we have learned how to overcome them,” as quoted by Agence France-Presse. He added: “We have adapted to the sanctions, and we have learned to protect ourselves from the risks associated with them,” at a time when Moscow is subject to many sanctions, some dating back to 2014 and others to 2022. He pointed out that all major Russian companies “have developed an action plan in the event that they are exposed to sanctions.” . On Thursday, the United States announced a set of new punitive measures targeting companies that help supply weapons to Russia. The matter concerns 130 people and entities participating in trade exchanges with Russia, to enable the country to obtain “the necessary technologies and equipment” to continue its war in Ukraine.
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2023-11-03 20:54:46
