war in Ukraine
Updated on 08/29/2023 10:19 PM
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at an Independence Day celebration.
© kyodo/dpa
In its counter-offensive, Ukraine announced an even more intense shelling of Russian targets, for example in Crimea. Russia speaks of direct involvement of the West in the war.
In the future, Ukraine wants to become one of the largest producers of weapons and ammunition and also target Russian targets more closely. The Ukrainian attacks are carried out exclusively for “defense motives,” said the adviser in the presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, on Ukrainian television on Tuesday night. In contrast to a year ago, the western allies have now also accepted attacks on Russian objects on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
“Today there is an absolute consensus that we can destroy everything Russian in the occupied territories, for example in Crimea,” Podoliak said. At the same time, the adviser announced that the number of drone strikes will increase as the Russian leadership is increasingly losing control of both the airspace and the power apparatus. In addition to primarily military objects in Crimea, Kiev is now also attacking military airports and the capital Moscow with drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj does not see a military liberation of the peninsula as absolutely necessary. A political solution is better – under certain conditions. (Image: picture alliance/dpa/Lehtikuva | Emmi Korhonen)
Podoljak also referred to a recent statement by the Foreign Minister
Russian authorities now report defenses against Ukrainian drone attacks almost every day. The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced that a drone attack on Russian territory in the Black Sea was prevented on Tuesday. The drone crashed in the sea area. The ministry did not give any details.
Russia accuses West of involvement in war
Russia has accused the West of being directly involved in the war because of its military aid to Ukraine. Former Russian head of state Dmitry Medvedev interpreted Podoljak’s statements about the attacks on Crimea permitted by the West as “direct, legally weighty evidence of the West’s involvement in the war against Russia”.
This gives Moscow the opportunity to take action “against everyone and everyone in the NATO countries,” the deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council wrote on Telegram. “The predictions of the apocalypse are getting closer and closer,” he said, alluding to the threat that the nuclear power would use any means necessary to defend its claims.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than 18 months with massive Western aid. Including Crimea, Russia controls over 100,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. During its counter-offensive, Ukraine announced that it would take back its occupied territories. (dpa/ng)
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