A Ukrainian drone struck a campus belonging to Russia’s National Guard Sunday in the Russian region of Chechnya, as Kyiv continues to strike back after a mass air attack from Moscow.
Footage on social media showed a drone swooping low over the Chechen capital, Grozny, some 800 kilometers southeast of the front line in Ukraine, before exploding. No casualties were reported.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed that the drone had hit a site belonging to the Akhmat Grozny riot police battalion, and said that two other drones had been shot down by air defenses.
Kadyrov pledged revenge on Ukrainian forces and said he had ordered a missile strike against military facilities in Kharkiv in retaliation for the attack. The claim could not be independently verified.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it had shot down 15 Ukrainian drones overnight in the country’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, as well as over the Black Sea. It did not mention the Grozny attack.
An official in Ukraine’s security service also told the AP on Sunday that Ukrainian intelligence services had conducted a special operation to sever Russia’s logistic fuel supply routes from Ukraine’s annexed Crimea to occupied Zaporizhzhia.
The operation, which took place Saturday, destroyed a locomotive and 40 tanker cars, the security official said. A sabotage operation reportedly blew up railway tracks while the train was moving, before HIMARS rocket launch systems joined the attack.
“As a result, a key railway branch used to supply Russian troops was put out of service for an extended period,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous in order to share sensitive information.
Kyiv’s strikes on Russia over the weekend, which also set fire to a major oil terminal on Saturday, follow a mass bombardment across Ukraine by Moscow Friday. Russia fired 93 cruise and ballistic missiles and almost 200 drones at its neighbor, battering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Russia’s troops also continue to slowly advance in eastern Ukraine. Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War reported Sunday that geolocated footage placed Russian forces inside the settlement of Kurakhove, which Moscow’s troops had besieged for weeks after surrounding it on three sides.
The push compounds further uncertainty as to how the war might unfold next year, with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, sparking doubt as to whether vital U.S. military support for Kyiv will continue.
In an interview published in TIME magazine Thursday, Trump said that he was against allowing Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil using U.S.-provided weapons.
Meanwhile, Russia launched 108 drones across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, the Ukrainian air force said. It said that 56 were shot down by air defenses, while another 49 disappeared from radar after failing to reach their targets. Three more drones returned to Russia, officials said.
Gov. Vitalii Kim said that two people were injured in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv as a result of the attack, which also damaged local infrastructure.
© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
26 Comments
TaiwanIsNotChina
Good to see Ukraine hitting back in every way possible against savagery.
Primusinter
Two drones were shot down by air defense over Grozny, and the third fell on the territory of the Rosgvardiya Directorate. Kadyrov said that he immediately transmitted intelligence data and in the afternoon the Russian Aerospace Forces launched two Iskander strikes at an object in Kharkov, where, according to him, about 200 horsemen were killed
Primusinter
large concentration of armed forces in the Sumy region. There were two powerful explosions in Kharkov. According to Rus Ministry of Defense, during the day Russ troops destroyed four Patriot air defense missile launchers, a combat control vehicle and a radar station.
Underworld
Primusinter
At this, I stopped reading...
Primusinter
If you stop reading, the Patriots will not recover :)))
JJE
Ramzan will ram a few more battalions into the proceedings: watch.
As for this "sabotage operation": that exists in fantasy world. The supply of fuel doesn't come from Crimea - it comes direct from the land bridge from Russia. Now that Russian forces have pushed them back, construction and expansion of the rail networks, old and new, that cruise in from Rostov (the main logistics artery) is proceeding apace - tracks, bridges, switches, shunting etc by the Railway Troops and engineers. Called bursting the bubble.
Another bubble is certain quarters really need to give up their obsession with the former Autonomous Republic of Crimea - it was never Ukrainian to begin with and never will be. A textbook example is the 810th Marine Guards out of Hero and Federal City of Sevastopol; ask them.
Burgerland
In an interview published in TIME magazine Thursday, Trump said that he was against allowing Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil using U.S.-provided weapons."
Good to see voices of reason and pro -peace returning to the White House after the warmongering and pro-escalating Biden administration. People of Ukraine wish for negotiated settlement and peace asap. .https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-polls-show-most-ukrainians-now-support-a-negotiated-peace-as-russian-advances-continue-244419
Primusinter
If you focus only on the information of your "Washington-based think tank", then you will miss the fall of Kurakhovo (learn ro write it correctly) for sure. The Russian flag has already been raised on the administrative building of the town. From the front line it is reported that only 20 percent of the settlement is under the Ukrainian military. Be quick in searching of actual information
Underworld
Burgerland
In an interview published in TIME magazine Thursday, Trump said that he was against allowing Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil using U.S.-provided weapons."
Unless Trump can provide security guarantees, he will fail.
JJE
Kurakhove gets a belated mention in the article, which is overall more relevant than all the other window dressings. The whole cauldron, on the South Donetsk sector south of Pokrovsk, is closing rapidly. The former is basically a mop-up operation with areas north of the Vovcha reservoir also taken - this includes a place called Shevchenko (confusingly there is another place north with the same name, also overrun, on the direct SW outskirts of Pokrovsk), which holds the trophy of the biggest lithium deposit in Europe, untapped. Southern side a similar story. From now on the east-west road running into Kurahove (the only way out), is under fire control, and has turned into another obstacle course for forces retreating west. In the immediate scheme of things, developments in this specific sector this will straighten the front and indicate the direction of the impending winter campaign season, which kicks off in five days.
Reports also indicate UAF forces have shuffled the commander for south Donetsk just now.
Burgerland
Reading information from both sides leads to being able to form a better informed / balanced opinion.
Unless Trump can provide security guarantees, he will fail."
No doubt some sort of security guarantees will be provided to Ukraine as part of the ceasefire negotiations.
Zaphod
Pushback? As if Zelenski has not been continuously escalating the conflict. The articles about this issue look like coming directly from Zelenskis press office.
Zaphod
Burgerland
Exactly. In every topic. However, that seems to be news to some here.
isabelle
You spelled "continuously defending his country from the invading Russian murderers, thieves, rapists, and child abductors" wrong.
TaiwanIsNotChina
But only 20-30% believe there should be territorial concessions. I'm glad you keep highlighting this.
Underworld
Burgerland
And pointless if the source is known to be propaganda. And there are way more than "both sides".
Unless Trump can provide security guarantees, he will fail."
Security guarantees means that the NATO goes in, if Russia breaks the peace.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Crimea had even less independence than Taiwan before 2014.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Ukraine is the one under heinous assault or don't you believe the story that the russians are advancing?
Burgerland
And pointless if the source is known to be propaganda. "
Agreed. Most know that Moscow is almost as good as Kyiv/Washington/Brussels at propaganda.
Security guarantees means that the NATO goes in, if Russia breaks the peace."
The security guarantees have not been worked out yet as far as I know. Is there any reliable info indicating otherwise?
Burgerland
don't you believe the story that the russians are advancing?"
But Taiwan & friends keep telling us Russians are depleted both militarily and economically so how could they be advancing? Must be fake news.
Primusinter
Tg ch t.me/NyuraNBerg
"Zelensky postponed the signing of an agreement with the United States on cooperation in the field of mining and processing of minerals until Trump's inauguration, The New York Times reports.
Well done Volodimir. Why make such gifts to a worthless Biden if it's time to be friends with Trump? And there, says Volodimir, $13.5 trillion worth of good is buried.
And let no one be fooled by the word "cooperation". In fact, this is a complete surrender of the bowels of Ukraine to the Americans"
Primusinter
Oh, it's quite interesting! Tell us, please, by what criteria you compare the independence of Taiwan and Crimea :) Come on! The weather in Crimea, by the way, is nasty now. It is strange that JT released such a stupid article and completely missed the important event that took place in Crimea yesterday.
JJE
The Chechen leader mentioned in the article has his own university, named after the CIC, with a long runway. This produces graduates of a special doctoral program in many disciplines.
The drone attack mentioned consisted of a type of light-plane converted into drone bomb. Not the first time they have been employed.
Now let's crunch the numbers:
56+49+3 = 108.
So, 56 shootdowns. 49 assumably jammed or malfunctioned or whatever. 3 ran for home.
Assumably 100% of these injuries and damage to local infrastructure was entirely a result of the 105 falling drones/AD interceptors and none impacted any targets. Amazing stuff.
Burgerland
But only 20-30% believe there should be territorial concessions."
One can not have everything. That peace will come with Russians keeping most of the territory they took is quite obvious to most, including the incoming White House team.
JJE
The light plane, converted into a drone for the Grozny attack mentioned, appears to be either an Aeroprakt A-22 or Aerosor Nynja - both locally produced in Ukraine. In what quantities is hard to ascertain.
Underworld
JJE
Yup. Ukraine air defense in action. It seems they have got better at electronic warfare.