The Russian military says the attack will not go unanswered and will launch more projectiles toward Ukraine.
As Donald Trump prepares to take office as U.S. president, Ukraine’s military announced it has carried out the largest airstrike ever on Russian territory since the war began nearly three years ago.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Tuesday it would retaliate for a major missile and drone attack overnight, accusing Ukraine of again using missiles supplied by the United States and Britain.
The Russian military said most of the projectiles were shot down in attacks that targeted several cities and industrial sites.
The Russian cities of Saratov and Engels were reportedly affected, and some factories in the area were reportedly damaged. Some schools were forced to switch to remote learning, and some airports were forced to suspend air traffic.
Ukrainian forces attacked the same area last week, claiming they struck an oil depot that serves as an airbase for Russian bombers. The attack caused a large fire, which was extinguished the day before the latest attack.
Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday it also struck locations in Bryansk, Tula and Tatarstan, including a chemical factory that produces rocket fuel and ammunition for the Russian military.
Ukraine first began using US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles and British-made Storm Shadow projectiles to attack targets inside Russia in late November last year.
Russia has said it wants dialogue but will not back down from its demands on Ukraine, warning that the move could significantly escalate tensions. Russia also fired a new medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as Oreshnik into Ukraine and said it was ready for reuse.
The day before Ukraine’s latest attack on Russia, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief Mark Rutte said Ukraine was not currently strong enough to “negotiate from a position of strength” and said he hoped the next U.S. president would do so. Ta.
While campaigning for re-election, President Trump said he would resolve the war before taking office. Former U.S. diplomat William Courtney, who stopped making that statement after his election, said the envoy to Ukraine was discussing a 100-day deadline.
“I think it’s kind of dangerous to make specific predictions because no one can completely know how these things will turn out, but President-elect Trump seems to be more supportive of Ukraine now than he was before the election. ,” said a part-time senior researcher at the institute. RAND Corporation told Al Jazeera.
Courtney said Ukraine may be trying to show Trump with its recent attacks on Russia that it “still has a fight left to fight and can take the fight to Russia and have serious military effect.” Ta.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to advance deep into eastern Ukraine, while Kiev continues its military offensive inside the Russian territory of Kursk, which this week captured the first North Korean soldier alive to fight for Moscow.
