Russia struck Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, with missiles on Sunday targeting Western military supplies, claiming that it destroyed tanks that were donated internationally, amid President Vladimir Putin's warning of the U.S. sending weapons to the European nation.
Putin's cryptic threat of military escalation did not specify what the new targets of his military would be. The remarks came days after United States officials announced plans to deliver $700 million in security assistance for Ukraine. The package includes four precision-guided, medium-range rocket systems, as well as helicopters, Javelin anti-tank systems, radars, tactical vehicles, and more.
Russia's Missiles Strike Kyiv
Several military analysts said that Russia is hoping to overrun Ukraine's embattled eastern industrial Donbas region. The area is where Russia-backed separatists have fought the Ukrainian government since 2014, even before the arrival of any U.S. weapons that could turn the tide.
Last week, the Pentagon said that it would take at least three weeks to get more U.S. weapons onto the battlefield to support Ukraine. On the other hand, Kyiv officials said that the missiles aimed at the capital struck a train repair shop, as per the Associated Press.
In other regions of the country, Russian airstrikes in the eastern city of Druzhkivka laid waste to several buildings and left at least one person dead, said a Ukrainian official. Residents in the area described waking to the sound of missile strikes, with rubble and glass falling down around them.
One resident, Svitlana Romashkina, said that the situation was like being inside a horror movie as the Russian Defense Ministry said that air-launched precision missiles were used to destroy workshops in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. The struck regions include Druzhkivka, which was claimed to be repairing damaged Ukrainian military equipment.
According to CNN, Putin warned on Sunday that Moscow's forces will strike new targets if the U.S. supplied Ukraine with long-range missiles. The Russian state media TASS reported that the president said delivering new arms to Kyiv only aims to "drag out the armed conflict for as long as possible."
Ongoing War
Despite the warnings, supplying American MLRS to Ukraine essentially does not change anything in the war. This is because Kyiv already has similar weapons that are capable of hitting far targets, including similar range missiles. The weapon shipments merely make up for the lack of military equipment, Putin said.
On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden said that the American government was providing Ukraine with "more advanced rocket systems and munitions." The situation comes as Russia is making forward movement in several areas north of the city of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine after they "completed regrouping of troops," said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Sunday.
The Sloviansk city military administration said on Saturday that hundreds of people were fleeing the region every day, with evacuation numbers almost doubling this week. The official added that a missile strike on Tuesday killed three people.
In the nearby Lyman region, Russia was also "advancing in the direction of Sviatohirsk, trying to push our troops to the right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River," the Ukrainian military said. The river continues to serve as an obstacle to Russian troops' advance to Lysychansk which is located on the other side, the Washington Post reported.
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