KYIV: Russia preparing to step up attacks on Ukraine using Iranian-made explosive drones, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyas Moscow looks for ways to keep the pressure on Kyiv after months of setbacks on the battlefield for the Kremlinwar strategy.
“We have information that Russia is planning an extension offensive by Shaheds (exploding drones),” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Monday night.
He said the aim was to break Ukraine’s resistance by “depleting our people, (our) air defense, our energy”, more than 10 months after Russia invaded its neighbor.
Russian President Vladimir Cheese fries studies how to build confidence in Moscow’s flawed war effort, which has been undermined in recent months by a Ukrainian counteroffensive backed by Western-supplied weapons. This sparked criticism in some Russian circles over the army’s performance.
In the latest embarrassment for the Kremlin, Ukrainian forces fired rockets at a facility in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian soldiers were stationed, killing 63 of them. It is one of the deadliest attacks on Kremlin forces since the war began more than 10 months ago.
Western-bolstered Ukrainian air defenses made it difficult for Russian warplanes to carry out missile strikes. Iranian-made explosive drones are a cheap weapon that also strikes fear into troops and civilians. The United States and its allies have argued with Iran over Tehran’s role in allegedly supplying drones to Moscow.
The Institute for the Study of War said Putin was seeking to build support for his strategy among key voices in Russia.
“Russia’s air and missile campaign against Ukraine is unlikely to generate the informational effects the Kremlin wants among Russian nationalists,” the think tank said Monday evening.
“Such profound military failures will continue to complicate Putin’s efforts to appease the Russian pro-war community and maintain the dominant narrative in the national news space,” he added.
Zelenskyy warned that in the coming weeks “the nights could be quite rough”.
He added that during the first two days of the new year, which were marked by relentless nighttime drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, the country’s forces shot down more than 80 Iranian-made drones.
As well as hoping to wear down resistance to the Russian invasion, the long-range bombardments have targeted the power grid to leave civilians at the mercy of harsh winter weather as power outages reverberate across the country.
“Every drone shot down, every missile shot down, every day with electricity for our people and minimal shutdown schedules are exactly such victories,” Zelenskyy said.
In the latest fighting, a Russian missile fire overnight at the town of Druzhkivka in the partly occupied eastern region of Donetsk injured two people, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported on Tuesday.
Officials said the attack destroyed an ice hockey arena described as Ukraine’s largest hockey and figure skating school.
Nightly Russian bombardments were also reported in the northeastern region of Kharkiv and in the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk.
In recently recaptured areas of the southern Kherson region, Russian shelling on Monday killed two people and injured nine others, Ukrainian Governor of Kherson Yaroslav Yanushevich said on Tuesday. He said Russian forces fired on the city of Kherson 32 times on Monday.
“We have information that Russia is planning an extension offensive by Shaheds (exploding drones),” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Monday night.
He said the aim was to break Ukraine’s resistance by “depleting our people, (our) air defense, our energy”, more than 10 months after Russia invaded its neighbor.
Russian President Vladimir Cheese fries studies how to build confidence in Moscow’s flawed war effort, which has been undermined in recent months by a Ukrainian counteroffensive backed by Western-supplied weapons. This sparked criticism in some Russian circles over the army’s performance.
In the latest embarrassment for the Kremlin, Ukrainian forces fired rockets at a facility in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian soldiers were stationed, killing 63 of them. It is one of the deadliest attacks on Kremlin forces since the war began more than 10 months ago.
Western-bolstered Ukrainian air defenses made it difficult for Russian warplanes to carry out missile strikes. Iranian-made explosive drones are a cheap weapon that also strikes fear into troops and civilians. The United States and its allies have argued with Iran over Tehran’s role in allegedly supplying drones to Moscow.
The Institute for the Study of War said Putin was seeking to build support for his strategy among key voices in Russia.
“Russia’s air and missile campaign against Ukraine is unlikely to generate the informational effects the Kremlin wants among Russian nationalists,” the think tank said Monday evening.
“Such profound military failures will continue to complicate Putin’s efforts to appease the Russian pro-war community and maintain the dominant narrative in the national news space,” he added.
Zelenskyy warned that in the coming weeks “the nights could be quite rough”.
He added that during the first two days of the new year, which were marked by relentless nighttime drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, the country’s forces shot down more than 80 Iranian-made drones.
As well as hoping to wear down resistance to the Russian invasion, the long-range bombardments have targeted the power grid to leave civilians at the mercy of harsh winter weather as power outages reverberate across the country.
“Every drone shot down, every missile shot down, every day with electricity for our people and minimal shutdown schedules are exactly such victories,” Zelenskyy said.
In the latest fighting, a Russian missile fire overnight at the town of Druzhkivka in the partly occupied eastern region of Donetsk injured two people, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko reported on Tuesday.
Officials said the attack destroyed an ice hockey arena described as Ukraine’s largest hockey and figure skating school.
Nightly Russian bombardments were also reported in the northeastern region of Kharkiv and in the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk.
In recently recaptured areas of the southern Kherson region, Russian shelling on Monday killed two people and injured nine others, Ukrainian Governor of Kherson Yaroslav Yanushevich said on Tuesday. He said Russian forces fired on the city of Kherson 32 times on Monday.
