NATO was forced to scramble warplanes for the second night in succession as Vladimir Putin ignored Donald Trump and staged more barbaric strikes on Ukraine. The US president accused the Kremlin dictator of going “absolutely CRAZY…needlessly killing a lot of people”, threatening tougher sanctions.
After the most intense day of aerial attacks on Sunday, when his attacks killed multiple civilians, including three children, Putin carried on targeting Kyiv for the third day in a row with sirens sounding for six hours, while also bombarding multiple other regions of Ukraine. NATO aircraft were flown from Poland as a defensive measure amid the heavy strikes by Putin.
“Due to the attack by the Russian Federation, which is carrying out strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aviation has begun operating in our airspace,” said a statement from the armed forces command.
The commander “activated all available forces and resources at his disposal. The on-duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness. The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.”
Trump had earlier finally reacted to Putin’s brazen attacks on Ukraine after Sunday’s carnage.
He said: “Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia.”
Meanwhile, attacks overnight saw a man killed in Odesa after covering his girlfriend with his body. After receiving 70% burns on his body, he managed to let her and his dog out to be rescued, say reports.
In the Kharkiv region, at least six settlements were under fire, with two women, aged 84 and 58, killed. A man aged 60 and a woman aged 76 and 68 were injured. Russian troops shelled the village of Kindrativka in the Sumy region with artillery, killing a man and wounding another.
In Khotyn, a 48-year-old resident died from artillery shelling. Another civilian, a 52-year-old man, was injured. Russia also staged a massive attack on a military airfield in Starokostiantyniv, Khmelnytskyi region.
“It burned like hell on earth…” said a witness. In the Zaporizhzhia region, a woman, 60, and a man, 52, were wounded in Russian strikes on a private home.
Ukraine continued to fight back, again causing mayhem at Russian airports, especially Moscow, as they were forced into shutdowns due to swarming kamikaze drones.
Moscow hubs Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky all suffered closures – as did Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Cherepovets airports.
A major chemical plant – key to making Russian explosives – was hit at Kineshma in Ivanovo region, with smoke seen pouring from the facility. Tula region, with multiple defence enterprises, was also under fire, a regular target in recent days.
Power outages followed the drone strikes.
Russia’s main drone-making centre, Yelabuga in Tatarstan, was also hit by Ukrainian drones in overnight attacks, according to reports. And a train exploded in Russia’s Belgorod region after hitting a mine.
The Institute for the Study of War assessed that Putin’s relentless attacks are aimed at hitting morale in Ukraine but also undermining Western confidence in Kyiv’s ability to resist the Russians.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin is leveraging long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities, aggressive rhetorical campaigns, and excessive pessimism in the West about the battlefield situation in Ukraine in a multi-pronged effort to degrade Ukrainian morale and convince the West that a Russian victory in Ukraine is inevitable and that supporting Ukraine is futile,” said the USW.
Yet “the battlefield situation has shifted dramatically since early 2022, and three years of manpower and material losses have significantly degraded the Russian military’s ability to conquer Ukraine. Russian advances have significantly slowed as Russian forces continue to suffer personnel losses and increasingly rely on poorly trained and equipped infantry to make gains.
“Putin remains deeply committed to distracting from the realities of the battlefield situation, however, as bringing about the cessation of Western military assistance to Ukraine is Russia’s only real hope of winning this war.”
Russia said it had shot down 148 Ukrainian drones.
