Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia will intensify its attacks with Iranian-made explosive drones in response to strengthening the Ukrainian position on the battlefield.
“We have information that Russia is planning a prolonged attack by ‘shaheds’ (explosive drones),” Zelensky said in his latest late-night video, recorded Monday night, adding that the aim was to combat Ukrainian resistance.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Володимир Зеленський (@zelenskiy_official)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying to explore ways to boost military officers’ confidence in the war after losing several battles in recent months to a counter-offensive from Ukraine backed by Western-supplied weapons.
In the latest embarrassment for the Russian (Kremlin) presidency, Ukrainian forces fired ‘rockets’ at a facility in eastern Donetsk where Russian soldiers were stationed, killing 63 in one of the deadliest attacks against Russian forces since the start. from the war. for more than 10 months.
Ukraine’s Western-bolstered air defenses have made it more difficult for Russian warplanes to carry out missile strikes.
Therefore, Russia intends to use Iranian-made explosive drones, as they are cheap weapons, but terrifying for both soldiers and civilians.
The Institute for War Studies, a US strategic office, says Putin is trying to build support for his strategy among key voices in Russia.
“Russia’s air and missile campaign against Ukraine must not be having the effect among Russian nationalists that the Kremlin wanted,” the analysts said, adding that “military failures will continue to complicate Putin’s efforts to appease the Russian pro-war community and maintain the dominant narrative in the domestic news space”.
Zelensky warned that in the coming weeks “nights could be quite hectic,” adding that the first two days of this year were marked by relentless nighttime drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, but he said the country’s forces shot down more than 80 Iranian-made drones.
In addition to trying to reduce resistance to the Russian invasion, the drones are targeting the Ukrainian power grid, primarily to leave civilians at the mercy of harsh winter weather.
“Every drone shot down, every missile shot down, every day we keep power for our people with minimal blackouts is a victory,” Zelensky said.
Earlier today, Russia sent drones to the town of Druzhkivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, injuring two people, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.
In the past 24 hours, 27 of these Iranian-made drones have been identified and disabled, the same source said.
In all, there were 32 Russian strikes in the region, hitting mainly civilian targets, including an ice hockey arena considered the largest ice hockey and figure skating school in Ukraine.
Russian shelling was also reported overnight in the northeastern Kharkiv region and the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region.
In newly recaptured areas of southern Kherson, the attack killed two people and wounded nine others, Ukrainian Kherson Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said, adding that Russian forces fired on the city 32 times on Monday.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Ukrainian response to the attacks in Kherson caused 500 casualties among Russian soldiers.
Source: TSF
