Ukraine bombs a military target and Russia announces progress on the ground news

Ukrainian security services announced on Saturday that they had struck a Russian ammunition depot in a border area, while Russian forces confirmed that they had achieved another advance on the battlefield.

In parallel, the Ukrainian Air Force announced on Saturday that it had thwarted a “huge” Russian air attack targeting the capital, Kiev.

He confirmed that he was able to shoot down 58 out of 67 drones launched by Russia during the night, and that defense units confronted the drones in 11 separate areas across the country.

Despite Ukrainian assurances that the Russian attack had been thwarted, news agencies confirmed that explosions were heard in the capital, Kiev, after three in the morning, and indicated that the debris of a drone that was intercepted fell near the Ukrainian Parliament in the center of the city.

The governor of the Ukrainian Donetsk region, Vadim Velashkin, announced today, Saturday, that 3 people were killed and 3 others were injured as a result of Russian artillery shelling on the town of Kostyantinivka in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces are advancing there.

The Russian army also announced its control of the town of Kalinov, located about 25 kilometers from Pokrovsk, an important logistical center that has been targeted for several weeks by Russian forces approaching it.

Huge fire

Conversely, a huge fire broke out in the Russian region of Voronezh, located in southwestern Russia, as a result of an attack by a Ukrainian march, prompting officials to evacuate local residents living near the fire.

Governor Alexander Gusev wrote on Telegram that Russian air defense systems “detected and intercepted a march” early in the morning.

He added that “no one was hurt,” but the fall of the march led to a fire that “spread to objects containing explosive materials, causing them to explode,” without revealing any details about the nature of these objects or the targeted facility.

For its part, Kiev said that these attacks are being carried out in response to the ongoing Russian bombing on its territory, and mainly target military and industrial targets.

Voronezh, which borders the Ukrainian Lugansk region, has been subjected to repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones targeting fuel depots and ammunition stores since the beginning of the Russian war in February 2022.

Zelensky discusses armament in Europe

Diplomatically, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday in Cernobbio in northern Italy, according to the Italian government, where Meloni stressed her strong support for Kiev.

Before that, Zelensky met during his short trip with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and he also demanded that his country be given “more weapons” during a meeting of his country’s allies at the American Ramstein base in western Germany.

For its part, the United States announced a new military aid package to Ukraine worth $250 million.

The package includes air defense missiles, missile systems, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and armored vehicles.

Support from American and British intelligence

On the other hand, the heads of American and British intelligence said in an opinion article on Saturday that “continuing the course” of supporting Ukraine during its war with Russia has become more important than ever, and they pledged to strengthen their cooperation there and in the face of other challenges.

An article by CIA Director William Burns and British Intelligence Director Richard Moore was published in the Financial Times, and it is the first ever article written jointly by the heads of the two agencies.

They wrote in it that “the partnership lies at the heart of the special relationship between our two countries,” noting that two years ago the two agencies celebrated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of this partnership. They will continue to assist their Ukrainian counterpart.

They said that the two countries’ intelligence services “stand together in the face of the aggressive war launched by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin against Ukraine.”

They added that “staying the course (regarding Ukraine) has become more important than ever, and that Putin will not succeed in undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence.”