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Ukraine has used long-range British cruise missiles to attack a Russian military base deep inside occupied territory.
The military base is located within an industrial complex in southern-central Luhansk, eastern Ukraine. The extent of the damage is unclear.
It comes as President Zelensky warned Russia may be organising an increased offensive in coming months.
“The situation at the front during such a hot war is always difficult. But these days – and especially on the Donetsk front – it’s getting harder,” he said during a nightly address.
The British Storm Shadow missiles were launched by Ukrainian aircrafts at a command base for Russian troops over the weekend, but it was not specified until today which weapons were used.
The same missiles have played a key role in Ukraine’s long-range attacks on Vladimir Putin’s prized Black Sea fleet in occupied Crimea.
“This strike furthers Ukraine’s campaign to liberate the Luhansk region from the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion and ensure that Russia is not able to advance further into Ukraine,” a military source told Sky News.
“Striking Russian military command nodes creates confusion among the Russian ground forces,” they added.
Zelensky compares Ukraine war with Middle East conflict
Volodymyr Zelensky has lauded what he described as “unity” in helping Israel defend against Iranian air attacks last weekend as he called on Kyiv’s allies to show the same unity they displayed in helping Israel fend off Iranian drone and missile attacks.
He pointed out the help Israel received from the US, the UK and other nations despite not being a Nato nation.
“Israel is not a member of Nato… and no one was drawn into the war,” he said.
“They simply helped save lives. Shaheds (drones) in the skies of Ukraine sound just like in the skies of the Middle East. Ballistics strike the same everywhere if not shot down,” Mr Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president, pleading for more western aid and assistance, has called for “political will”, especially from the United States, where an aid package remains blocked in Congress.
In what has continued to drag on since November last year, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to decide this week on how to handle president Joe Biden’s request for billions of dollars in security assistance for Ukraine and other US allies.
More civilians die in Ukraine as a think tank warns delays in US aid will hamper Kyiv’s forces
More civilians died across Ukraine on Sunday as analysts warned that delays in U.S. military assistance would see Kyiv struggle to fight off Russian offensives.
One man was killed after a Russian drone hit the truck he was driving in the Sumy region, the local prosecutor’s office said.
Officials in the Kharkiv region also said that they had retrieved the bodies of a 61-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man killed by a Russian strike the previous day. Ten Russian Shahed-type drones were shot down over the Kharkiv region overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force.
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Zelensky and his Ukrainian commanders discuss war strategy, ammunition supplies
Volodymyr Zelensky met Ukrainian commanders as he considered action on the frontline of the 25-month-old war against Russia and the acquisition of weaponry from Kyiv’s allies.
The Ukrainian president, speaking in his nightly address, mentioned the meeting and said there are three sectors where Ukraine’s forces face difficult situations in standing against Russian onslaughts: Chasiv Yar, west of the destroyed Russian-held town of Bakhmut in the east and Pokrovsk and Kupiansk, further west and north.
Mr Zelensky said reports were presented on supplying arms and electronic warfare systems and ways to protect infrastructure hit for weeks by Russian missile and drone attacks.
The leaders also discussed intelligence reports on new Russian offensives that he has predicted will also soon take place.
“This is about what we must prepare for – all forms of enemy action,” Mr Zelensky said. “It is clear that the madness in the Kremlin is still strong and the occupiers will try to intensify their advances. We will respond.”
Russian forces have made small advances in recent weeks, securing control of villages in eastern Donetsk region since recapturing the key town of Avdiivka in February.
IAEA warns that attacks on a nuclear plant in Russian-controlled Ukraine put the world at risk
Russia and Ukraine traded blame before the United Nations Security Council for the attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said have put the world “dangerously close to a nuclear accident.”
Without attributing blame, IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said his agency has been able to confirm three attacks against the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant since 7 April.
“These reckless attacks must cease immediately,” he told the Security Council. “Though, fortunately, they have not led to a radiological incident this time, they significantly increase the risk … where nuclear safety is already compromised.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Israel’s response to an Iranian aerial attack shows what Kyiv needs
The success of Israel and its allies in largely thwarting a massive Iranian missile and drone attack shows what Ukraine could achieve against Russian aerial barrages if it had more support from its partners, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday.
A recent Russian aerial campaign targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and other targets has wrought extensive damage, and Ukrainian officials have pleaded with the country’s Western allies to provide more air defense systems as the war stretches into its third year.
Israel’s defense system, with assistance from the U.S. and Britain — countries that are also supporting Ukraine’s war effort — is credited with preventing serious damage or casualties in Sunday’s attack by Iran using more than 300 drones and missiles.
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Iran’s strikes have changed the conversation on Ukraine and Israel aid in Congress
On Monday, both Democrats and Republicans gathered to condemn the weekend’s new development in the Middle East: a sizable drone and missile attack launched by Iran against Israeli targets.
Saturday’s attack by Iran refreshed the importance of the geopolitical consequences of Israel’s war in Gaza for Washington and led to a flurry of activity in the lower chamber, where Republican leaders have teed up a series of bills and resolutions in response.
The first pieces of legislation are set to pass the chamber Monday evening. They deal with a range of issues, including directing US representatives at both the IMF and World Bank to oppose financial assistance to Iran and tightening sanctions against Chinese firms known to do business with Iran’s energy sector.
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Biden hosts Czech leader at White House to promote Ukraine aid amid holdup in Congress
President Joe Biden urged the U.S. House to immediately take up Senate-passed supplemental funding for Ukraine and Israel on Monday as he hosted Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in the Oval Office.
The visit came as Biden aimed to highlight the efforts other nations are making to support Ukraine. It followed the Czech government’s announcement that it is sending 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition to Ukraine, which Kyiv says is badly needed on the battlefield against Russia’s invasion.
“As the Czech Republic remembers, Russia won’t stop at Ukraine,” Biden said. He appealed to Congress to pass the supplemental funding so the U.S. could do its part to help Ukraine. “They have to do it now,” Biden said.
Fiala praised the U.S. president for his leadership in support of Ukraine, adding, “We are also doing our best.”
Two Ukrainian soldiers running London Marathon to show ‘unbreakable’ spirit
Two amputee Ukrainian soldiers said they are taking on the London Marathon because they want to show that Ukrainians are “unbreakable”.
Active Ukrainian serviceman Georgiy Roshka, 32, had his arm amputated in a bunker during the siege of Azovstal, while fellow soldier Oleksiy Rudenko, 28, lost his leg after he stepped on a mine during a combat mission in eastern Ukraine, and now both men use prosthetics.
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Ukraine bishop urges UK and US to keep supporting fight against Russia
The bishop for Ukraine in London has urged the UK and the US to “honour their pledges” and not forget that Ukraine is fighting Russia to save the “rule of law and democracy”.
Two years ago, Russia launched a devastating full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capturing nearly a quarter of the country and displacing more than 10 million people. There are now at least six million Ukrainian refugees in Europe, including around 250,000 in the UK.
“This is not just a battle for Ukraine,” the Catholic bishop told The Independent. “It is the battle for rule of law, democracy and freedoms that we have all taken advantage of. That we stand to lose.
Bel Trew reports:
Ukrainians granted sanctuary in Britain sent to live with suspected gangsters
Ukrainian refugees fleeing the horrors of war to find sanctuary in British homes were sent to live with suspected gangsters under the government’s flagship Homes for Ukraine scheme, The Independentcan reveal.
In the worst cases, Ukrainian families and individuals “just disappeared”, according to one council worker, while others were forced to work for their hosts or were charged rent. In one stark example, a couple with a young child were sent to live with a convicted paedophile.
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Source: independent.co.uk
