Russia says it destroyed US weapons in Ukraine and killed 120 soldiers

The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a report on Wednesday that “more than 120 nationalist and 35 armored vehicles were destroyed” as a result of air strikes on occupied Ukraine 63 days ago. The government also said it had destroyed “a large amount” of weapons supplied to Ukraine by the United States and European countries. In total, Russian forces stated that “rocket and artillery units completed 573 fire missions in one night.” Information could not be verified with independent sources.

According to the ministry, “The hangars with a large amount of foreign weapons and ammunition delivered to the Ukrainian forces by the United States and European countries were destroyed by sea-fired high-precision Kalbir missiles at the aluminum plant in Zaporizhzhia, southeast of Ukraine” .

Russia reported explosions even in towns close to the Ukrainian border that did not take these measures.

The Ukrainian government estimates that it will take three or more weeks for the new weapons promised by the allied countries in recent days to reach Ukraine and be effective in the conflict. “It will be late May or early June, when the required amount comes and starts to have a serious impact on the battlefield,” Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Cabinet, said in an interview. Said.

The use of Allied weapons already constitutes a warning to conflict, as Russia has indicated that it is ready to retaliate if used. The US plans to hold monthly summits with allied countries and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) on the situation in Ukraine.

Russia has cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria as of today in response to the sanctions it has been subjected to. The move is in retaliation as the Russian government retaliates for countries’ refusal to pay rubles for energy and supports Ukraine in the war. The EU (European Union) described the Russian measure as “blackmail”.

attacks and reactions

Despite recording attacks by Russian forces mainly in the east and south of the country, Ukraine responded.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that “only in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions”, in the separatist areas, “nine enemy attacks were repelled”, noting that tanks, artillery systems, armored vehicles were destroyed, among others.

Bombings caused fires in the city of Avdiivka, about 700 kilometers from Kiev. But, according to the military chief of the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repulsed the attempt of the Russian troops to advance in this direction.

According to Ukraine’s railway company, a bridge was hit in the south, in the Odessa region today, and “the extent of damage to infrastructure” is still being assessed.

hospital shot

A hospital in Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Lugansk region was attacked today. According to Lugansk governor Sergey Gaidai, a woman died.

“The Russians knew the hospital was not empty,” said Gaidai. “There were patients with doctors in different circumstances. And that didn’t stop them.”

According to Gaidai, “the destruction of the building is important”. “Multiple floors were damaged at the same time.”

The governor said this is one of two hospitals operating in the region. The other is in the city of Lysychansk.

Mariupol was besieged

The situation in the port city of Mariupol remains tense. According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russia “opens massive fire in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe Azovstal plant, where civilians are sheltered, and blocks our units”.

Most Russian airstrikes on Mariupol are carried out “using unguided free-falling bombs,” according to intelligence from Britain’s Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. “These weapons increase the risk of civilian casualties by reducing Russia’s ability to effectively discriminate when carrying out attacks.” Information could not be verified with independent sources.

Received fields

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian army has launched an offensive to seize control of the Donbass region, capturing several places in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces displaced the Ukrainian army Velyka Komyshovakha and Zavody in the Kharkiv region and took control of Zarichne and Novotoshkivske in the Donetsk region.

Zarichne is just 50 kilometers from the regional center of Kramatorsk, where dozens of people died in a Russian attack on a train station a few weeks ago. The Ministry of Defense warned that Russian forces “continue the offensive against Nyzhnye and Orikhiv” in the central region of Zaporizhzhia.

Pro-Russian separatists have controlled the Donetsk and Lugansk regions since 2014, when the Russian government annexed the Crimean peninsula after protests toppled the then Moscow-linked Ukrainian president. Russia says the offensive in the east should create a land link between the separatist-controlled area and the Black Sea peninsula.

Moldova

Officials in Moldova’s pro-Russian separatist region, Transnistria, announced that a village on the border with Ukraine, home to a large Russian army ammunition depot, was set on fire. “At night, several drones were seen over the village of Cobasna,” Transnistria’s “interior ministry” said in a statement.

The same source also pointed out that “fire was recorded from Ukraine towards Cobasna on Wednesday morning” and that no casualties were reported. Cobasna is two kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The village is home to a large Soviet-era weapons depot under the control of Russian soldiers stationed in that area. The self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria broke away from Moldova in 1992 after a brief war against Moldova. Since then, 1,500 Russian soldiers have been deployed in the area.

Fears have been mounting for several days that the war in Ukraine will spread to Transnistria. A Russian general recently claimed that the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine was aimed at creating a corridor to this separatist region.

Separatists reported a series of explosions in the self-proclaimed “republic” on Monday and Tuesday. In response, Moldova announced measures to strengthen its security and called for calm for its population. Ukraine, on the other hand, accused Russia of wanting to “destabilize” Transnistria to justify military intervention.

(with Reuters, AFP, DW and Ansa)