Achi news desk-
Kyiv, Ukraine –
Russian drones struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv early Sunday, setting fire to a hotel and damaging energy infrastructure, Ukraine’s local governor reported, while a shortage of ammunition continued to hobble Kyiv’s troops in the more than two-year-old war.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv province, said Russian drones “severely damaged” a hotel in his capital of the same name, sparking a fire that was later extinguished. Kim also said the strike had damaged heat generation infrastructure in the city, but gave no details. He added that there were no injuries.
Russian state agency RIA claimed the strike on Mykolaiv targeted a shipyard where naval drones are assembled, as well as a hotel housing “English-speaking mercenaries” who have fought for Kyiv. The RIA report cited Sergei Lebedev, described as the coordinator of local pro-Moscow guerrillas. His claim could not be independently verified.
Also on Sunday morning, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that 17 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight over four regions in the southwest of the country. Three drones were intercepted near an oil depot in Lyudinovo, an industrial town about 230 kilometers (143 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, Gov. Vladislav Shapsha.
One of the Ukrainian drones damaged communications infrastructure in Russia’s southern Belgorod province, which borders Ukraine, Gov. Vyachaslav Gladkov later on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Russian shelling on Saturday and overnight wounded at least seven civilians across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. A 36-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble after Russian shells destroyed her home in the northeastern Kharkiv region on Sunday morning, the local administration reported. Her 52-year-old neighbor was also rushed to hospital with a stomach wound, the administration said.
Donetsk and Kharkiv regions have seen fierce clashes in recent weeks as Russian forces try to crush gains along the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) frontline, while a shortage of ammunition has increasingly hampered Ukraine’s defenses.
Russian troops “will likely make significant gains in the coming weeks” while Kyiv waits for much-needed arms from a massive US aid package to get to the front, a Washington think tank said.
In its latest operational assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said Moscow’s forces had opportunities to push forward around Avdiivka, the eastern city it took in late February after a tough, months-long battle, and threatened nearby Chasiv Yar. Its capture would give Russia control of a hilltop from which it can attack other key cities forming the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defenses.
Despite this, the think tank assessed that neither of these efforts by Moscow is likely to cause Kyiv’s defensive lines to collapse.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed on Sunday that Moscow troops had taken a village about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Avdiivka, days after the organization reported its likely capture early Thursday. An assessment that day described Moscow’s gains as “relatively rapid but still relatively marginal,” adding that Russian troops had advanced no more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) over the previous week.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was immediately rushing much-needed weapons to Ukraine as he signed into law a US$95 billion war aid bill that also included aid to Israel, Taiwan and hot spots other global.
The announcement marked the end of a long, painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed aid to Ukraine, with Biden promising on Wednesday that US arms shipments would begin making their way in to Ukraine within hours.
