Ukraine apparently destroys Russian missiles in Crimea

Im north of the of Russia According to the authorities, the air defense system shot down Ukrainian drones on the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. The Moscow-appointed governor on the peninsula, Sergei Askjonov, announced on Monday that one person had been injured in the town of Dschankoi. Houses and a grocery store were damaged by fallen debris.

The manager of Dzhankoy, Igor Ivin, said that a fire broke out in the store. Electrical wiring was also damaged. The exact extent of the damage was initially unclear.

In Kiev, the Defense Ministry’s military intelligence said the attack was aimed at transporting missiles on railway tracks. Rockets were destroyed. This will continue the process of “demilitarization of Russia” and the Crimea prepared for liberation from Russian occupation.

From the Russian side there was that rockets should have been destroyed, no confirmation. For example, Russia transports missiles for the Black Sea Fleet overland to the military ports. In addition, the Russian troops in the occupied areas of Cherson and Zaporizhia are supplied with supplies via the strategically important ice rink route.

In Dschankoj there had already been a heavy explosion in an ammunition depot in August last year. There were injuries then too. Thousands of people had to be brought to safety. The train service had to be temporarily suspended in the middle of the tourist season. Via Dzhankoj go the railway connections from Moscow across the new Crimean Bridge to the capital Simferopol on the peninsula.

The incidents repeatedly raise questions among Russian observers as to how well the heavily armed peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, is actually protected. Other Russian regions in the border area with Ukraine have also been complaining about attacks from the Ukrainian side for months. There were dead, injured and severe destruction in the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced that they wanted to liberate Crimea like all other occupied areas of Ukraine.

Zelenskyj thanks the West

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the new military aid from the EU and the US as strengthening the defenses of his country attacked by Russia. “Fast deliveries and also the production of ammunition are planned,” said Zelenskyj in his daily video message distributed in Kiev on Monday evening. “It’s a strategic move,” he said. The EU is spending two billion euros to Ukraine to deliver a million new artillery shells for the fight against Russia in the next twelve months.

“This strengthens the conviction that we are united, that the movement towards defeating the terrorist state is unstoppable,” said Zelenskyy. The EU members had shown that they really wanted Europe to be strong and free. Selenskyj had previously personally thanked individual heads of government for their support over the phone.

The US, in turn, is providing Ukraine with $350 million in new military aid to help it defend itself in the war against Russia. The package, worth the equivalent of 326 million euros, mainly contains ammunition, as the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday. In addition, equipment for demining, fuel tankers and thermal imaging systems are to be delivered.

Ukraine has long complained of a shortage of ammunition. Kiev’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in early March that his country urgently needed a million artillery shells. He estimated the financial requirements at four billion euros. The United States is considered Ukraine’s most important ally. Since the beginning of the war, their military aid has totaled well over $30 billion.

Russian ambassador criticizes arms deliveries

In Washington, Russia’s Ambassador Anatoly Antonov criticized the new US military aid package for Ukraine. “Washington is guided by the idea of ​​inflicting a strategic defeat on our country,” he said on Tuesday night. The United States would pour “oil on the fire” by constantly supplying new weapons and ammunition, thereby widening the conflict. “Such actions jeopardize security throughout Europe and increase the risk of a direct clash between Russia and NATO.” Moscow’s leadership has repeatedly warned that arms deliveries from the West would also encourage radical forces in Kiev to launch attacks on Russian territory.