News

Russia Launches Wave of Attack Drones on Ukrainian Infrastructure


Russia launched a new batch of Iranian-made drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Saturday, hitting critical infrastructure in several regions after launching a new drone strike. attack. cruise missile seriesanti-aircraft missiles and drones over cities across Ukraine.

The overnight drone strike caused severe damage to Ukraine’s already destroyed power grid, which Russia has repeatedly targeted in what military analysts say is a strategy of plunging the country into darkness and cold to lower morale.

The strikes, the first heavy air strikes in weeks, come as fighting on the ground intensifies, with Ukrainian officials saying Russian forces are waging a major new attempt to seize power. control the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Air defense systems destroyed 20 of 136 Shahed drones between 6pm and midnight, Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement early Saturday. But three energy facilities in the Dnipro region of southeastern Ukraine were attacked, including one in Kryvyi Rih for the second time in a day.

“They targeted our critical infrastructure,” said Serhii Lysak, head of the regional military administration. said in a statement on the messaging app Telegram.

Drones shot down in southern regions of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa, Kyiv Independent reported, citing the southern commander of the Ukrainian army.

The drone attack came after Russian forces fired more than 100 missiles in a day of airstrikes across Ukraine, in what the Ukrainian air force described as a “large-scale” attack. . Officials are still assessing the extent of the damage, but the state-owned power company said a number of thermal and hydroelectric plants have been hit hard.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the company’s director, said: “The extent of the damage is enormous. told Ukrainian TV station on Friday.

As the war nears its first anniversary, Russia has poured troops and equipment into eastern Ukraine, in the early stages of what Ukrainian and Western officials say will be a major offensive.

Ukraine’s Western allies rushed to provide more powerful weapons so that Kiev could launch its own offensive. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government has reiterated its call for more weapons – and faster deliveries.

Mr Zelensky said he had received “good signals” from allies in promoting the use of heavier weapons. a rare international trip in the past week to London, Paris and Brussels.

“This applies to both long-range missiles and tanks, as well as to our next level of cooperation – fighter aircraft. But we still need to work on this,” he said on Fridays at his nightly address.

John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, on Friday predicted that the coming weeks and months will be “difficult and important” for Ukraine. He said that while he has yet to see a major new attack forming, “we are anticipating it and honestly, so are the Ukrainians,”

The United States believes that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will “take advantage” of the winter months to “replenish, resupply, rearm” offensive operations that could be resumed in the spring, Mr. Kirby said. told a press conference on Friday. “As the weather improves, the fighting is likely to become more intense,” Mr Kirby said.

In recent weeks, some of the heaviest fighting has centered on the Russian-occupied city of Kreminna and the Ukrainian-controlled city of Bakhmut, about 30 miles apart in the Donbas region.

The Ukrainian military said early Saturday that Bakhmut remained the main focus of Russian forces, with 124 airstrikes and 54 “collisions” in the area over the past day. Moscow sees the city as an important starting point for attacking the Ukrainian stronghold at Kramatorsk, an important step towards capturing the entire Donbas.

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button