Russia launches new missile attacks in response to NATO’s increased backing for Ukraine

• Russia says Ukrainian forces retreated in Luhansk.
• Kyiv says Russian balloons shot down over the capital.
• Artillery, the ground onslaught on Bakhmut continues.

Russia started missile strikes across Ukraine on Thursday, according to Ukrainian officials, following a commitment by Western partners to increase military help to Ukraine’s armed forces in support of a planned counter-offensive.

Officials in Ukraine said air defenses in the south shot down eight Kalibr missiles launched from a ship in the Black Sea, but other missiles hit northern and western Ukraine, as well as the central areas of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd.

According to authorities, one missile damaged an industrial location in the western city of Lviv, creating a fire that was quickly extinguished.

Russia has expanded ground attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, bolstered by tens of thousands of reservists drafted in December, and a significant new offensive is widely expected as the first anniversary of its Feb. 24 invasion approaches.

“The enemy’s offensive in the east continues, (with) round-the-clock attacks,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar on Wednesday.

“The situation is tense. But our fighters are not allowing the enemy to achieve their goals and are inflicting very serious losses,” she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces had retreated in the face of Russian operations in the Luhansk region, though it provided no details, and Reuters was unable to verify this and other battlefield reports.

“During the offensive … the Ukrainian troops randomly retreated to a distance of up to 3 km (2 miles) from the previously occupied lines,” the ministry said on Telegram.

The ministry did not say where the offensive took place in Luhansk. The Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial core, is made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which are now partially occupied by Russia, which seeks full control.

Six Russian balloons, possibly carrying reconnaissance equipment, were shot down after air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv, according to the capital’s military administration.

Russia did not respond immediately.

Russia’s major endeavor has been an artillery and ground assault on Bakhmut, Donetsk.

According to Ukrainian military analysts, Russian troops made multiple unsuccessful raids on settlements to the north and south of Bakhmut on the previous day.

“Things are really difficult for our military there since Russian troops are being sent in large numbers,” stated expert Oleh Zhdanov.

According to the Ukrainian Armed Soldiers’ General Staff’s evening report, Russian forces shot on more than 15 towns and villages surrounding Bakhmut, including the city itself.

Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko released photos and video of a rubble-strewn apartment complex in Pokrovsk, southwest of Bakhmut, that he claimed was destroyed, killing three people.

Bakhmut’s conquest would provide Russia with a stepping stone to march on two larger cities, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk further west in Donetsk, reviving Moscow’s momentum ahead of the invasion’s 24th anniversary on Feb. 24.

MILITARY EQUIPMENT

NATO countries are increasing the production of artillery munitions as Ukraine consumes shells faster than its partners can produce them, according to the alliance.

“Things are occurring, but… we need to move up even further, because there is a tremendous demand out there to give ammunition to Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after a two-day meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers in Brussels.

Ukraine has received billions of dollars in military assistance, with the US committing over $27.4 billion in security assistance since the conflict began.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy leader, asked other countries to join Germany in sending tanks.

Britain and other European countries said they will contribute military equipment, including tank spare parts and artillery ammunition, through an international fund, with an initial shipment worth more than $241 million.

According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Ukraine has a high chance of seizing and “exploiting” the initiative on the battlefield this year.

Senior US officials earlier recommended Ukraine postpone a big operation until the newest delivery of US hardware arrived and training was completed.

“We have to ensure that this spring it is truly felt that Ukraine is going towards victory,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an evening address.

Russia has described the invasion as a “special military operation” against security threats and has cited significant armament supply to Ukraine as evidence that the West is intensifying the conflict.

Ukraine and its allies have labeled Russia’s efforts as a land grab.

Next week, on the eve of the war’s 24th anniversary, the UN General Assembly will vote on a draught resolution emphasizing the need for sustainable peace and demanding Moscow withdraw its forces.

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