RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Two Ukrainian military trains hit in missile strike

Two Ukrainian military trains, carrying dozens of pieces of hardware, have been destroyed in a ballistic missile strike, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Sunday, sharing drone footage of the attack.

The trains, carrying equipment and personnel of the 41st mechanized brigade, were discovered at a railway station near the town of Barvenkovo, located near the border between Ukraine’s Kharkov Region and Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic. Each train consisted of at least 20 flatbed cars, the ministry said.

Infrared footage captured by a surveillance drone shows a ballistic missile fired by an Iskander-M launcher striking the station, with multiple fires observed on the ground after the hit. The strike was closely followed by another one, with a missile striking the second train, footage shows.

According to the military’s estimates, there were more than 60 pieces of military hardware, including 14 US-made International MaxxPro mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs) and ten Canadian-made Roshel Senator armored personnel carriers (APCs), as well as other armored and soft vehicles. Up to 240 Ukrainian servicemen were killed or injured in the strike.

In recent weeks, the Russian military has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian forces in redeployment, striking military trains and road convoys, inflicting heavy casualties and damage on Kiev’s forces.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy calls for long-range weapons after drone attack on Kyiv

Ukraine needs long-range weapons to protect its cities and troops on the frontline from Russian bombs and drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday after a massive overnight drone and missile attack.

Russia launched its fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks overnight, with Ukraine's air defence systems destroying all the air weapons before they reached the capital, Ukraine's military said.

Ukraine's air force said on Telegram that its air defence systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight. The weapons, the air force said, targeted 10 of Ukraine's regions.

It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv. There were no casualties and no significant damage reported, Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, said on the Telegram.

"During last night alone, the Russian army used almost 40 'Shaheds' against Ukraine. Importantly, most of them were shot down by our defenders of the sky," Zelenskiy said on Telegram, referring to the drones.

He said it was necessary to destroy Russian bombers at Russian air bases to protect Ukraine from air raids.

"Our sufficient long-range capabilities should be a fair response to Russian terror. Everyone who supports us in this supports the defence against terror," Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy renewed his call for Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia on Friday in London, saying Britain should try to convince its partners to remove the limits on their use.

NATO members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they donate. Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia's border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.

Russia launched three Iskander ballistic missiles, Ukraine's air force said, without saying what happened to them.

The military administration of the Sumy region in Ukraine's northeast bordering Russia said on Telegram that a Russian missile damaged critical infrastructure in the Shostkynskyi district of the region.

The administration did not provide detail on what infrastructure was hit.

There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks. Moscow says it does not attack civilian targets in Ukraine.

"These systematic attacks ... with drones, once again prove that the invader is actively looking for an opportunity to strike Kyiv," Popko said. "They're testing new tactics, looking for new approach routes to the capital, trying to expose the location of our air defence."

RT/Reuters