Moscow drone attack: Buildings damaged in wake of suspected strike
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A Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia and shelling hit a Russian town close to the border for the third time in a week, damaging buildings and setting vehicles ablaze, Russian officials said on Wednesday.
A day after Russia accused Ukraine of sending drones to attack buildings in Moscow, the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region said a drone was the likely cause of a fire that broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery.
The report could not be immediately independently verified.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of “terrorist activity” after Moscow was hit with a drone attack for the first time since the war in the besieged country began.
The Russian president accused Ukraine, which has denied any involvement in the drone attack, of choosing the path of attempting “to intimidate Russia, Russian citizens and attacks on residential buildings”.
Drones hit several buildings in Moscow, forcing some people to evacuate their homes after Russia launched its third attack on Kyiv in 24 hours.
‘Ukraine drone attack’ sparks fire at oil refinery in southern Russia - Russia
A Ukrainian drone sparked a fire at an oil refinery in southern Russia and shelling hit a Russian town close to the border for the third time in a week, damaging buildings and setting vehicles ablaze, Russian officials said on Wednesday.
A day after Russia accused Ukraine of sending drones to attack buildings in Moscow, the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region said a drone was the likely cause of a fire that broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery.
We’ll have more on this story as it comes in.
Five dead in Ukraine shelling of Luhansk village - Moscow-installed centre
Five people were killed and 19 wounded in Ukrainian shelling of a village in the Russian-controlled east Ukrainian region of Luhansk, a Moscow-installed coordination centre said on Wednesday.
The centre said on the Telegram messaging service that Ukrainian forces had used HIMARS rocket launchers to attack a poultry farm in the village of Karpaty.
The claim could not be immediately independently verified. Moscow controls nearly all of the Luhansk region in Ukraine.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine, but Kyiv almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine or in Russia.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the 15-month long war that Russia launched in February 2022.
Russia seeing little success in countering Ukraine’s improved air defences, says UK MoD
Russia has increasingly ceded the initiative in the conflict and is reacting to Ukrainian action rather than actively progressing towards its own war aims since the start of this month, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said today.
It noted that Russia has launched 20 nights of one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicle and cruise missile attacks deep inside Ukraine this month.
“Russia has had little success in its likely aims of neutralising Ukraine’s improved air defences and destroying Ukrainian counter-attack forces. On the ground, it has redeployed security forces to react to partisan attacks inside western Russia,” the ministry said.
It added that, operationally, Russian commanders are “likely attempting to generate reserve forces and position them where they believe a Ukrainian counter-attack will occur”.
“However, this has probably been undermined by uncommitted forces instead being sent to fill gaps in the front line around Bakhmut,” the ministry said.
US’s new package worth $300m for Ukraine includes munitions for drones
A US military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be announced today will total up to $300m (£242m) and will include additional munitions for drones, officials said.
The drone ammunition comes after new attacks by unmanned aircraft targeted Moscow, which the Kremlin has blamed on Kyiv.
There has been no suggestion that US-made drones or munitions were used in the recent attacks on Moscow. Additionally, the US officials have repeatedly said that Ukraine has agreed not to use any American-provided weapons for attacks on Russian soil.
The newest package will be munitions for Patriot missile batteries and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Stinger missiles for the Avenger system, mine-clearing equipment, anti-armour rounds, unguided Zuni aircraft rockets, night vision goggles, and about 30 million rounds of small arms ammunition, said the US officials.
Read the full story here:
U.S. officials say a military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to be announced this week will total up to $300 million, and will include additional munitions for drones
Russia and Ukraine not willing to protect nuclear plant, fail to align on UN agency’s plan
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are committing to respect five principles laid out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi to try to safeguard Ukraine‘s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
The situation at Zaporizhzhia is “extremely fragile and dangerous,” the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief said, adding that “military activities continue in the region and may well increase very considerably in the near future.”
Mr Grossi said that the he has tried for months to craft an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident from military activity like shelling at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
His five principles included that there should be no attack on or from the plant and that no heavy weapons such as multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, and tanks or military personnel be housed there.
Mr Grossi also called for off-site power to the plant to remain available and secure; for all its essential systems to be protected from attacks or sabotage; and for no actions that undermine these principles.
Four killed, 16 injured in shelling in Luhansk, says Russia-backed officials
At least four people were killed and 16 injured in shelling by Ukraine in Luhansk region’s Karpaty village, a Moscow-installed local coordination centre said today.
The shelling struck a poultry farm in the village, the centre said.
Russia accuses Washington of ‘Ukrainian terrorists’
Russia’s envoy to the US has blamed Washington for encouraging Kyiv by publicly ignoring the drone attacks on parts of Moscow.
“This is an encouragement for Ukrainian terrorists.”
The White House said it was still gathering information yesterday on the incidents but added that it did not support attacks inside of Russia.
While a Ukrainian presidential aide denied Kyiv was directly involved in the drone attack on Moscow, he said Ukraine was enjoying watching events and forecast more to come.
Multiple drones attack Russia’s Krasnodar oil refinery
Russia’s envoy to the US has blamed Washington for encouraging Kyiv by publicly ignoring the drone attacks on parts of Moscow.
“This is an encouragement for Ukrainian terrorists.”
The White House said it was still gathering information yesterday on the incidents but added that it did not support attacks inside of Russia.
While a Ukrainian presidential aide denied Kyiv was directly involved in the drone attack on Moscow, he said Ukraine was enjoying watching events and forecast more to come.
Russia puts top Ukrainian generals on “wanted list”
Russia’s interior ministry has put two of Ukraine’s top generals on a “wanted list”, the state-run RIA news agency said on Tuesday.
On the list is Commander in Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi and Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces.
The articles they are wanted under have not been specified, RIA reported, citing the ministry’s wanted person database.
Deputy Ukrainian defence minister Hanna Maliar dismissed the listings as a failed attempt to demoralise pro-Kyiv forces.
“Putting psychological pressure on commanders who are fighting against an enemy that significantly outnumbers them in terms of personnel and weaponry is pointless,” she wrote in a Telegram post.
No agreement on protecting Russian-held Ukrainian nuclear plant
Ukraine and Russia have been urged to safeguard a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, suggesting no agreement is in place to protect it.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi asked both countries to respect five principles to safeguard Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant.
Grossi has tried for months to craft an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident from military activity like shelling at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, which is in southern Ukraine and has been occupied by Russia for more than a year.
His five principles included that there should be no attack on or from the plant and that no heavy weapons such as multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, and tanks or military personnel be housed there.
