Ukraine updates: Putin warns against long-range weapons use – DW – 10/27/2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his call for Western allies to help with air defense, saying that Russia had staged more than 1,100 attacks with glide bombs and more than 560 with drones in the past week alone.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Zelenskyy said Moscow’s forces also fired around 20 rockets and cruise missiles at his country.

Zelenskyy’s post contained a video of what appeared to be the latest destruction.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked its allies for air defense capabilities to stop Russia’s attacks from the air.

Ukraine’s military has also asked for permission to use long-range weapons to hit targets inside Russian territory.

But US and British leaders have put off the decision as Moscow has repeatedly said the move would be seen as direct involvement by the West in the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Ukraine would need intelligence available only to NATO for such an operation.

Ukraine’s air defenses succeeded in destroying 41 of 80 Russian drones launched overnight, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday.

The air force said it lost track of 32 drones, without giving further details.

No casualties or infrastructure damage has so far been reported

The military and local authorities reported no casualties from the attacks or damage to critical infrastructure.

“Russia does not stop in its terror against Ukraine. Daily aggression against our people, our towns and villages. Strikes with various types of weapons,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyysaid on the Telegram messaging platform.

He said that Russia had deployed more than 1,100 guided aerial bombs, more than 560 attack drones and about 20 missiles in its attacks on Ukraine in the past week.
 

Russia’s Defense Ministry says its military has captured the front-line village of Izmailivka in eastern Ukraine.

Russian army units “liberated the settlement of Izmailovka,” the ministry said, using the Russian spelling for the village.

Izmailivka, which is 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of the key industrial town of Kurakhove, had a population of just under 200 people before the conflict.

Russian troops have been making advances in the region as Moscow continues its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which has now been going on for some 2 1/2 years despite huge losses on both sides.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indirectly doubled down on his threat of a war with NATO if it allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

Referring to an initial threat he made in September to this effect, Putin said: “They didn’t tell me anything about it, but I hope they heard.”  

Putin maintained that Ukrainian troops could not “use these weapons on their own” and would need space intelligence available only to NATO for such operations.

He said the Russian Defense Ministry was mulling over options for a response to such attacks.

“(The ministry) is thinking about how to respond to the possible long-range strikes on Russian territory; it will offer a range of responses,” Putin told Russian state TV’s top Kremlin reporter, Pavel Zarubin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked his Western allies for permission to use Western long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russian territory.

US and British leaders have put off making a decision on the matter, apparently in response to the dire threats coming from Moscow.

Currently, Ukraine is already using drones to hit targets well inside Russia’s borders.

tj/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)