Russian drones set hotel on fire in Ukrainian Black Sea city

Article content

kyiv, Ukraine – Russian drones attacked the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv early Sunday, setting fire to a hotel and damaging energy infrastructure, the local Ukrainian governor said, as ammunition shortages continued to hamper kyiv’s troops in the war that lasts more than two years.

Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv province in southern Ukraine, said Russian drones “severely damaged” a hotel in the capital of the same name, starting a fire that was later extinguished. Kim also reported that the attack damaged heat-generating infrastructure in the city, but gave no details. He added that there were no casualties.

Article content

Article content

Russia’s state agency RIA said the attack 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 quotes Sergei Lebedev, described as a coordinator of local pro-Moscow guerrillas. His claim could not be independently verified.

Also on Sunday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said 17 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight in four southwestern regions of the country. Three drones were intercepted near an oil depot in Lyudinovo, an industrial city about 230 kilometers (143 miles) north of the border with Ukraine, Governor Vladislav Shapsha said.

One of the Ukrainian drones damaged communications infrastructure in Russia’s southern province of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, Governor Vyachaslav Gladkov said later on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces had destroyed depots of ammunition and military equipment housed at three airports in Ukraine, including assault drones stored at the Kamyanka airfield in the country’s east. The ministry’s online update said the attacks took place over the past 24 hours. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Article content

Article content

Russian bombing 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 region of Kharkiv on Sunday morning, the local administration said. Her 52-year-old neighbor was also rushed to the hospital with a stomach wound, the administration said.

The Donetsk and Kharkiv regions have seen fierce fighting in recent weeks as Russian forces seek to gain ground along the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, while ammunition shortages have paralyzed every once again the defenses of Ukraine.

Russian troops “will likely make significant gains in the coming weeks” while kyiv hopes much-needed weapons from a huge US aid package will reach the front, a Washington-based think tank said.

In its latest operational assessment, the Institute for the Study of War said Moscow’s forces have opportunities to advance around Avdiivka, the eastern town they took in late February after grueling month-long fighting, and threaten the nearby Chasiv Yar. Its capture would give Russia control of a hill from which it could attack other key cities that form the backbone of Ukraine’s eastern defenses.

Article content

Despite this, the think tank assessed that none of these efforts by Moscow are likely to lead to the collapse of kyiv’s defensive lines.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Moscow’s troops had taken a village about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Avdiivka, days after the institute reported its likely capture early Thursday. That day’s assessment described Moscow’s advances as “relatively rapid but still relatively marginal,” adding that Russian troops had advanced no more than 5 kilometers (3 miles) over the previous week.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he would immediately send much-needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $95 billion war aid measure that also included assistance for Israel, Taiwan and other trouble spots around the world.

The announcement marked the end of the long and painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed aid for Ukraine, and Biden promised on Wednesday that the shipment of American weapons would begin arriving in Ukraine within hours.

Article content