This week, the U.S. continued to pile pressure on Ukraine. Fighting continued to rage all along the front lines, while the intensity of Russia’s offensive operations was going down. The situation has stabilized in the Pokrovsk direction where Ukrainian counterattacks have pushed Russian forces back near several villages and towns. A Russian missile strike hit a military training ground in the region of Dnipro on Saturday, causing casualties. A ballistic missile attack on Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday killed five and injured more than three dozen others, ruining a hotel. On Friday, Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure in the biggest missile and drone attack in weeks.
Early in the week, the U.S. halted all military aid to Ukraine. These were aid packages announced by the Biden administration. Ukraine will meet all of its needs in artillery domestically this year, the country’s Prime Minister announced.
The pause of U.S. military aid to Ukraine will continue until Trump decides that Zelenskyi backs peace negotiations with Russia. Trump administration has also halted all intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Ukraine’s opposition leaders on Thursday have addressed reports of secret discussions with members of Donald Trump’s entourage, saying they opposed Trump’s demands for wartime elections.
Russia targets Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure in biggest drone, missile attack in weeks. Russian missiles and drones targeted Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure facilities overnight on Friday. In Kharkiv, a critical infrastructure facility was hit. In the region of Ternopil, the attack struck a critical industrial facility, resulting in possible limits on gas supplies. Private homes and a gas pipeline were damaged in Poltava region.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia used 67 missiles and 194 drones in the attack. The missiles included three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, eight sea-launched Kalibr missiles, 35 Kh-101/Kh-55SM cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers, eight Kh-59/69 air-launched missiles and four S-300 surface-to-air missiles.