Tag: Russian Defence Ministry

‘War is returning to Russia’ after Moscow drone – Zelensky claims

Hours after Moscow accused Kyiv of using drones to target Moscow, the Kremlin said that war is “gradually returning” to Russia. This accusation was the latest in a string of attacks, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A corporate and shopping complex in the west of the capital was targeted, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, despite the fact that three drones were intercepted on Sunday. No injuries were recorded, but a 50-story building’s fifth and sixth floors were damaged, according to state news agency TASS.

Videos of the incident showed both emergency services and debris.

Zelensky stated in his daily presentation that “Ukraine is strengthening and the war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory, to its symbolic centres and military bases.” “This is a natural, inevitable, and completely just.”

According to a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Air Force, the recent drone assaults on Moscow were intended to shock Russians who had become complacent following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In Russia and Moscow, something is always in the air. According to the spokeswoman, Yurii Ihnat, who appeared on Ukrainian television, “now the war is affecting those who were not concerned.”

“Something does hit, no matter how much the Russian authorities would like to pretend they have intercepted everything.”

Unmanned aerial vehicles are being used more frequently by the Ukrainian military for purposes other than surveillance.

There will be more drone strikes in the future, according to Ukrainian Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, whose Digital Transformation Ministry is in charge of the nation’s “Army of Drones” acquisition strategy. Kyiv is stepping up a summer counteroffensive to drive Russian forces off Ukrainian land.

This week’s first objective was Moscow. An attack on two non-residential structures, including one close to the Ministry of Defence headquarters, was blamed on Ukraine on Monday. Russia referred to that occurrence as a “terrorist attack,” despite the fact that its military interventions in Ukraine frequently result in civilian casualties.

At least two civilians were murdered and 20 others were hurt in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy late on Saturday. Two more were killed in a rocket attack on Zaporizhzhia.

Over the weekend, heavy bombardments had been used in both regions. While a military official in Zaporizhzhia claimed Russian forces had launched 77 attacks on 20 communities around the region, damaging 31 homes and other infrastructure, Ukrainian officials in Sumy reported 25 incidences of shelling in a single day.

Residents of the Russian capital are uneasy despite the fact that there were allegedly no injuries or fatalities as a result of the strikes in Moscow.

One person who saw the attack on Sunday described how it disrupted some downtime that was scheduled.

“My friends and I had rented an apartment to relax here, and at some point, there was an explosion; it was like a wave, and everyone jumped,” she told Reuters. You couldn’t see anything because of the thick smoke. Fire was visible from above.

On Sunday, Ukrainian drones also attacked the Crimean Peninsula that Russia has annexed.

The land that Moscow illegitimately acquired from Ukraine in 2014 was intercepted by 25 unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, 16 of which were shot down.

According to the ministry, the other nine aircraft crashed into the Black Sea as a result of electronic warfare equipment jamming their signals. Although there don’t seem to have been any casualties.

On Friday, Russia claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian missile over Taganrog, a city in southern Russia. Regarding the incident, which appears to be a rare instance of Ukraine firing missiles inside Russian territory, Ukraine made no comments.

July 31, 2023
Major Moscow airport briefly shut down following a drone strike

Per the Russian defence ministry, Ukraine has launched a drone strike on Moscow, which has resulted in the temporary closure of one of the nation’s busiest airports.

In the attack on Tuesday, which also hit locations in the larger area surrounding the capital, five drones apparently were employed.

According to the defence ministry, no one was hurt or property was damaged while all the drones were shot down.

The alleged attack has not been attributed to Ukraine.

Some flights had to be diverted from Vnukovo Airport in response, although restrictions have now been lifted.

According to the defence ministry, four of the drones flying in the Moscow region were shot down by air defence systems. A fifth was intercepted electronically.

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July 4, 2023
Putin’s goons allegedly ‘probe General Armageddon at infamous prison’

An infamous Moscow prison is allegedly holding an important Russian general who has connections to the chairman of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Sergei Surovikin, often known as “General Armageddon,” has gone missing for four days amid suspicions that he was aware of the failed uprising in advance.

According to one scenario, Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister and a devoted follower of Vladimir Putin, was being assassinated by Surovikin, 56, who is second-in-command of the Russian armed forces. Surovikin reportedly sided with Prigozhin in this effort.

If Surovikin is found to have committed treason, he faces being jailed for more than 20 years.

Surovikin, nicknamed ‘General Armageddon’, pictured with defence minister Sergei Shoigu (Picture: AP)

‘Apparently, he [Surovikin] chose the side [of Prigozhin during the rebellion], and they grabbed him by the balls,’ a source told the Moscow Times.

Another source close to the Russian defence ministry confirmed his arrest.

When asked where the general is, he replied: ‘We don’t even comment on this information through internal channels.’

However, military blogger Vladimir Romanov claimed Surovikin is being held in Lefortovo prison, where Putin’s security services interrogate his enemies.

Initial reports also claimed Surovikin’s loyal sidekick General Andrei Yudin had been arrested.

But he denied this, insisting: ‘I am on vacation, at home.’ However, he could not explain Surovikin’s whereabouts.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov tried to dismiss reports Surovikin had advance knowledge of the Wagner revolt as ‘speculation’.

Surovikin’s boss, chief of the armed forces General Valery Gerasimov, has also disappeared from view since the rebellion, but he remains in charge.

June 29, 2023
Kyiv warns against talk as Russia claims to repel Ukrainian attack in Donetsk

There is increased speculation that Kyiv may soon begin a spring counteroffensive that could change the direction of the conflict after the Russian Defence Ministry said its troops successfully repelled a “large-scale” attack from Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donetsk province.

Intense informational efforts have been waged by Russia and Ukraine to manipulate public opinion and mislead their adversaries about their strategies. The Russian military claimed in a statement to have killed 250 Ukrainians and destroyed armoured vehicles used in the attack, but supplied very no supporting documentation.

A spokesperson for the Ukraine Armed Forces, Bohdan Senyk, told CNN that Ukraine does “not have information” on a purported “large-scale offensive” in Donetsk.

Moscow is known to make inflated claims about Ukrainian losses. CNN has been unable to independently verify the claim.

In a post on its official Telegram feed, the ministry said the assault took place at “five section of the front in the southern Donetsk direction.”

The ministry claimed the goal of the Ukrainian operation was “to break through” Russian defenses in what it considered to be “the most vulnerable area of the front.”

At the time of the attack, Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov “was at one of the forward command and control posts,” the statement added.

Gerasimov, who is chief of Russia’s General Staff, was put in overall command of Russian military operations in Ukraine early this year. He has come under public criticism from the head of the Russian private military company Wagner for supposedly running the war from a comfortable office.

Further south, a Russian-appointed official in Zaporizhzhia said Ukrainian troops were attempting to break through a defense line to reach the coast of the Sea of Azov.

“The goal of the [Ukraine Armed Forces] militants is to reach the Azov Sea coast and cut the land corridor,” Vladimir Rogov said, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.

He claimed that Ukrainian troops have increased the intensity of their shelling, and fired Storm Shadow missiles. “They are launched in large quantities, which means Ukrainian militants and terrorists have ammunition in sufficient quantity.”

Rogov said he did not think a full-scale counteroffensive had begun.

Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive has been shrouded in secrecy despite clear signs that Kyiv is gearing up for a sweeping operation.

Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar and other officials posted a social media video urging silence over any potential news of a counteroffensive.

The video shows several soldiers in full combat gear putting a finger to their lips and saying “shhh” followed by the text: “Plans love silence. The beginning [of the counteroffensive] will not be announced.”

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked troops on the front lines for striving to control the skies above them.

“We should all remember that our defense, our active actions, and the independence of Ukraine are not something abstract. These are very particular people, particular actions of particular heroes, thanks to which Ukraine exists and Ukraine will exist,” Zelensky said.

He singled out fighters who would be particularly key in the counteroffensive, just days after he told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that Kyiv was “ready” to launch the long-awaited military maneuvers.

“I think that, as of today, we are ready to do it. We would like to have certain things, but we can’t wait for it for months,” Zelensky said in an exclusive video interview published Saturday.

The president said he believed the counteroffensive will be successful but was not sure how long it will take.

“Everyone knows perfectly well that any counteroffensive in the world without control in the skies is very dangerous. Imagine what a military man feels, knowing he does not have a ‘roof’ and he can’t understand how neighboring countries have that,” Zelensky said about his dogged campaign for allies to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.

According to the WSJ, Zelensky acknowledged Russia’s superiority in the skies, adding that a lack of protection against Moscow’s air power means “a large number of soldiers will die” during the counteroffensive.

“If everybody knows we need the protection for our skies, then what’s the issue with [giving us] the modern jets? What is the issue?” he implored.

The Ukrainian leader has spent months courting Western allies to provide Kyiv with fighter jets and weapons to help control the skies and help limit the number of casualties to Ukrainian fighters during any potential counteroffensive.

Earlier this week, Jake Sullivan – US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser – said Washington believed the counteroffensive would help Kyiv retake “strategically significant territory.”

“Exactly how much, in what places – that will be up to developments on the ground as the Ukrainians get this counteroffensive underway,” Sullivan told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “But we believe that the Ukrainians will meet with success in this counteroffensive.”

June 5, 2023
2 Russian commanders killed in Ukraine – Defence Ministry

The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Sunday that two senior Russian military officers had died in eastern Ukraine, the most recent high-profile deaths for Moscow in a protracted conflict with its western neighbour.

Col. Yevgeny Brovko and Col. Vyacheslav Makarov, two officers who were in charge of Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region, were reportedly killed in action. They were killed, but it didn’t say when or when.

A statement from the Russian Defence Ministry stated, “The battle was personally led by Colonel Vyacheslav Makarov, commander of the 4th motorised rifle brigade, who was at the forefront.”

Brovko, the deputy commander of the army corps for military-political work, was leading troops in “repelling enemy attacks” and “heroically died after receiving multiple shrapnel wounds,” the ministry said.

The Donetsk region of Ukraine includes the city of Bakhmut, which has seen some of the fiercest and most relentless fighting of the war.

A months-long assault on the city by Russian forces, including Wagner mercenaries, has driven thousands from their homes and left the area devastated. But despite the vast amounts of manpower Russia has poured into capturing the city, they have been unable to take total control, and in the past week suffered heavy losses in the area.

Ukrainian forces have been able to capture more than 10 Russian positions near Bakhmut, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Telegram post on Sunday.

Maliar called the situation in Bakhmut “very hot.”

The Ukrainian military reported on Sunday that Bakhmut and Maryinka in eastern Ukraine remain the “epicenter of fighting”

“The enemy continues to focus its main efforts on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka directions. In total, about 30 combat engagements took place in the above-mentioned areas over the last day,” the military added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine has made “massive attempts to break through the defense of our troops to the north and south of Artemovsk,” referring to Bakhmut by its Russian name.

“All the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have been repelled. There has been no breakthrough in the defense of Russian forces,” the statement read.

Also in eastern Ukraine, Russian targets in the occupied city of Luhansk have been hit in missiles strikes in the past several days.

The city has become a significant hub for Russia’s invasion effort and has rarely been hit by Ukrainian attacks since the war began.

But two missiles hit in the area on Friday and another explosion was reported there on Saturday.

Some Russian bloggers, without providing evidence, suggested Ukraine used cruise missiles recently provided by the United Kingdom. But Kyiv also has Ukrainian-made Grom missiles, which have the range to hit Luhansk.

Elsewhere, unconfirmed reports said Russia may have had four military aircraft shot down over its own territory on Saturday, which if true would mark a significant coup for Ukraine.

One Russian media outlet said that at least two combat aircraft – an Su-34 fighter/bomber and an Su-35 fighter – and two Mi-8 helicopters crashed.

The aircraft were reportedly lost in the Russian region of Bryansk on the border with Ukraine.

Multiple crashes within Russian territory at the same time would be unprecedented. Some analysts believe Ukrainian air defenses may have been pushed forward as the Russian air force uses more “glide munitions” that can fire at targets from distance.

May 15, 2023