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On Tuesday, Ukraine claimed it hit a military weapons depot in Russia’s Bryansk region in the middle of the night, though it didn’t specify what weapons it used. The Ukrainian General Staff said that multiple explosions and detonations were heard in the targeted area, around Karachev.
Asked at a news conference if Ukraine had struck the Bryansk region ammunition depot with ATACMS, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to provide any details. However, he said, “Ukraine has long-range capabilities, including domestically produced long-range drones… and now we have ATACMS as well.“.
In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, the Russian Defence Ministry said the military shot down five ATACMS missiles and damaged one more. The fragments fell on the territory of an unspecified military facility, the ministry said. The falling debris sparked a fire, but didn’t cause any damage or casualties, it said.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
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Karachev is roughly 115 kilometres from the Russia-Ukraine border. Ukraine in the course of the war has been able to reach much deeper into the vast country — but with drones rather than missiles. For instance, Russian officials have reported intercepting Ukrainian drones over Moscow, which is about 500 kilometres from the border and most recently Izhevsk, a city about 1450 kilometres from the frontier.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials reported a third Russian strike in as many days on a residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child.
”Each new attack by Russia only confirms Putin’s true intentions. He wants the war to continue. Talks about peace are not interesting to him. We must force Russia to a just peace by force,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky told European Union lawmakers in a speech via video link that Russia has deployed about 11,000 North Korean troops along Ukraine’s borders and that the number could swell to 100,000.
He appeared in person at the Ukrainian parliament, where he presented what he called a “resilience plan” to dig in against the relentless Russian onslaught. He said he expects pivotal moments to occur in the war next year.
The plan outlines new approaches to army management, including the creation of a military ombudsman position and a new system of handling military contracts.
AP
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