Russia attack’s Ukraine capital Kyiv….
All missle shot down resulting in collateral damage….
Not reported but Ukraine has NOT suffered the power outrages this winter that they had suffered thru during the last two winters….
The US Biden admin National Security advisor dropped into Kyiv unannounced ….
EU looking ways to get more ammo to Ukraine….
Russian missiles streaked into Kyiv early Thursday in the biggest assault on the Ukrainian capital in weeks, injuring at least 13 people and damaging several residential buildings and industrial facilities, according to local officials.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that air defense systems had intercepted all 31 of the Russian missiles that targeted Kyiv. Still, debris from the downed missiles fell in various parts of the city, causing the injuries and damage. No deaths have been reported so far.
“Such terror continues every day and night,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a social media post that included a video of firefighters dousing burning buildings with water.
The attack began in the early morning with loud blasts jolting residents awake around 5 a.m. as air defense systems went into action. Many people rushed to take shelter in subway stations. Several orange fireballs lit up the sky, apparently the result of missile interceptions….
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In the Podilskyi district, which is home to industrial facilities that Russia has targeted in the past, a plume of black smoke was rising early in the morning, suggesting a hit. Mr. Klitschko said a fire had broken out at a power substation in the area.
In the past, the targets of Russian air assaults have sometimes been unclear, and Ukrainian officials rarely confirm strikes on strategic industrial and military targets.
On Thursday, however, an official from Ukraine’s military intelligence services said most of the missiles had targeted the agency’s offices in the capital, but had been shot down before reaching their destination. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, and his claim could not be independently verified….
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On Wednesday, Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, made an unannounced trip to Kyiv in an effort to show the White House’s continued commitment to Ukraine’s defense. He urged Republican lawmakers to pass the stalled package of billions of dollars in aid….
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European Union leaders on Thursday debated fresh ways to help boost arms and ammunition production for Ukraine amid a new sense of urgency about the future of the war-torn country.
Ukraine’s munition stocks are desperately low, while Russia has more and better-armed troops. There is also a growing awareness that the EU must provide for its own security, with election campaigning in the U.S. raising questions about Washington’s commitment to its allies.
At the same time, political rhetoric is at fever pitch as the campaign for Europe-wide elections on June 6-9 gathers pace, with security a major issue. As they talk up the need to fund the defense industry, both at home and in Ukraine, many leaders are also trying to convince citizens that budgets could be tightened elsewhere.
Ahead of the summit in Brussels, EU Council President Charles Michel said the Europeans “face a pivotal moment.” He said that with Europe “facing the biggest security threat since the Second World War, it is high time we take radical and concrete steps to be defense-ready and put the EU’s economy on a ‘war footing.’”…
Politico: “The Senate minority leader — and chief Republican proponent of new U.S. assistance for Ukraine’s defense against Russia — continued to throw cold water on any deviation from the Senate’s massive foreign aid bill and its $60 billion for Kyiv.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson has remained generally supportive of Ukraine aid, though GOP resistance has so far stalled it in the House.”
“The U.S. proposed to its Group of Seven allies that they create a special purpose vehicle to issue at least $50 billion of bonds backed by the profits generated by frozen Russian sovereign assets and use the proceeds to support Ukraine,” Bloomberg reports.
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Mar 21, 2024 – ISW Press
Russian offensive tactics will likely increasingly pressure Ukrainian defenses as long as delays in Western security assistance persist. Russian forces are generally relying on their manpower and materiel superiority to conduct a relatively consistent tempo of assaults against Ukrainian positions along the frontline in hopes of wearing down Ukrainian defenders and setting conditions for exploiting Ukrainian vulnerabilities.[9] Russian forces are also expanding their use of tactical aviation, drones, and electronic warfare (EW) systems in Ukraine to prepare for and support these assaults while reportedly conducting artillery fire exceeding Ukrainian artillery fire by a ratio of up to ten to one