蜜桃交友

By Stefan J. Bos 

Ukraine鈥檚 Air Force said Thursday its systems destroyed 17 out of 20 attack drones that Russia launched targeting Ukrainian territory. The drones were reportedly destroyed over the Odesa area in Ukraine鈥檚 south. 

Yet the attack came as Russian troops advanced against Ukraine鈥檚 Western-backed forces. 

The reality of the ongoing fighting against Ukraine also became evident during commemorations marking the then-Soviet Union鈥檚 victory over Nazi Germany. 

Russian troops marched through Moscow in a ceremony boycotted by most Western countries, where Russian President Vladimir Putin accused what he called 鈥渁rrogant鈥� Western elites of forgetting the decisive role played by the Soviet Union in Nazi Germany's defeat. 

He said that the West was risking a global armed conflict but warned that no one would be allowed to threaten the world鈥檚 biggest nuclear power. 

Putin, who was sworn into his fifth term as Russia鈥檚 president this week, also ordered Russian forces to rehearse deploying tactical nuclear weapons. 

These exercises were part of military drills to respond to what he called 鈥渢hreats鈥� by the West.

Military training 

Nearby Lithuania suggested that Western countries send more military training personnel into Ukraine backed by ground-based air defense after France did not rule out sending ground troops amid Russia鈥檚 increasingly hostile rhetoric. 

While still struggling, Western-backed Ukraine is trying to fight back against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. 

Russian authorities said Thursday that a Ukrainian air attack on Russia鈥檚 Belgorod region injured eight people and damaged scores of residential buildings and cars. 

Among the wounded was an 11-year-old girl who was taken to a hospital, officials said. About 34 flats in 19 apartment buildings were reportedly damaged, as well as three dozen cars in the city of Belgorod, the region鈥檚 administrative center, in what appears to be a massive attack.

Ukrainian intelligence sources also say that drones launched by the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, struck two oil depots near the town of Anapa in Russia鈥檚 southern Krasnodar region, causing large-scale fires. 

The oil depots were allegedly used as transshipment points to supply fuel to Russian troops in the nearby occupied peninsula of Crimea.

While Ukraine鈥檚 parliament dismissed a deputy prime minister and a minister accused of financial wrongdoing, questions remain about whether changes at the top will improve Kyiv鈥檚 chances of winning the war against Russia. 

Several countries, including NATO military alliance member Hungary, have urged urgent peace talks to end the armed conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured.