This week, fighting continued to rage all along the front lines. Russia continued to pummel Ukrainian cities and towns deep in the rear with missiles and drones. A Russian airstrike on Zaporizhzhia on Monday morning killed three people and damaged a critical infrastructure site, apartment buildings and private homes. In the two days that followed, Russia launched two more major attacks on the city, using air bombs and drones. It also staged a drone attack on Kharkiv on Tuesday evening. Russian forces carried out a combined drone and missile attack on a training ground on Wednesday, causing casualties, Ukraine’s Ground Forces said.
Russia is breaking the stalemate in Ukraine, Ukraine’s former army chief and current ambassador to the UK, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said in an article published by the Ukrainian news outlet Dzerkalo Tyzhnya (Mirror of the Week) on Wednesday. He underscored Russia’s massive use of FPV drones and small group infiltration tactics.
Ukraine continues to carry out strikes deep into Russia. Ukraine’s defense intelligence struck two Russian Be-12 Chayka amphibious aircraft in occupied Crimea, claiming first-ever kills of Be-12 planes in history. Ukrainian drones hit two Russian oil distribution facilities in the Bryansk and Samara regions. Later in the week, drone strikes disrupted oil terminals in the Russian ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse, and hit oil pumping stations in the Volgograd region and a drone plant in the Belgorod region.
Ukraine’s Air Force said it had shot down a Russian Su-34 bomber as it was dropping glide bombs on Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of Thursday. Ukraine’s defense intelligence struck the Kacha airbase in occupied Crimea once again, destroying two An-26 transport planes and two radar systems.
There is no unity among the European countries on how to respond to Russia’s incursions into their airspace. Poland moves to amend its legislation to allow its military to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine without needing approval from NATO or the EU.
Lavrov says NATO, EU have declared “real war” on Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused NATO and the European Union on Thursday of declaring a “real war” with Russia and directly participating in it.
“A clear example is the crisis in Ukraine, provoked by the collective West. NATO and the European Union, through Ukraine, (…) have already declared a real war on my country and are directly participating in it,” Lavrov said during his speech at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to a translation by Russian state media TASS.
His comments come just days after U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia resembled a “paper tiger.”
