Ukraine announced this Wednesday that Russia bombed more than a hundred towns in the last 24 hoursthe largest number in a single attack this year.
Since launching their offensive in February 2022, Russian forces have fired millions of artillery shells at Ukrainian cities and towns near the front lines, leaving several in ruins in the east of the country.
“In the last 24 hours, “The enemy bombed 118 towns in ten regions,” Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Igor Klimenko, declared in a message posted on social networks.
“This is the largest number of cities and towns to suffer an attack since the beginning of the year,” he added.
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A Russian attack on an oil refinery in Kremenchuk (center), It left no victims but required the action of more than a hundred firefighters to fight the ensuing fire for several hours.according to Klimenko.
Ukraine and its Western allies fear that Russia will intensify its attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure before the harsh winter, like last year.
The night bombings left one dead in the Kharkov region (northeast) and another in the Kherson region (south), local officials indicated..
A third person was killed and four others injured by a Russian drone attack in Nikopol, in the south of the country.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Wednesday that it shot down 18 of the 20 Russian drones launched overnight.
On the other hand, The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk and Kursk regionsbordering Ukraine.
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Ukraine tries to boost its own military industry
The bombing comes just as Ukraine is increasing the production capacity of its national defense industry with a clear long-term goal.: not to be unprotected again in the face of the threat from the Kremlin as happened on February 24 of last year with the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion.
To move as quickly as possible toward that goal, Ukraine has signed agreements with companies in the defense sector from Europe and the United States. One of the most concrete was achieved with the German giant Rheinmetall, whose CEO announced the opening this fall in Ukraine with the national defense company of a tank repair plant.
Also in collaboration with Ukroboronprom, Rehinmetall began working to open a production line for battle tanks in Ukrainearmored vehicles and ammunition.
Companies from Poland, France, Slovakia, Czechia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden have also signed similar agreements with Ukrainian companies. with a view to the joint production of demining devices, drones, artillery, armored vehicles and different types of ammunition.
Ukraine already produces some of these types of military material itself and has successfully used its own naval and aerial missiles and drones on the battlefield.to hit Russian targets that were considered unreachable at the beginning of this war.
“All of these projects are targets of Russian attacks, so we cannot reveal details,” former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrí Zagoroniuk tells Efe.
“We do not show specific examples, but some of the projects are quite advanced,” adds the former minister.who heads the Center for Defense Strategies and is also an advisor to the Ukrainian presidency and a member of the supervisory board of Ukroboronprom.
Asked about the impact that these collaborations will have in the short term, Zagoroniuk explains that some are already bearing fruit, but warns that Ukraine is not capable of producing, for example, combat aircraft.and it will take years to build tanks.
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In an interview with Efe, Ukrainian reserve colonel Victor Kevliuk stated that he does not see it feasible for the Ukrainian defense industry’s own production to supply the army with sufficient material so that Ukraine stops depending on arms shipments from allied countries in this war.
Kevliuk alludes to the threat of Russian ballistic and supersonic missiles – which only some Western systems received by Ukraine, such as the Patriot, can shoot down – as one of the obstacles. In addition to the physical danger for factories, these conditions trigger the risk that investors must take.
The retired colonel affirms that new shipments of air defenses from other Western countries could neutralize this threat, and highlights Spain’s contribution in this regard. with the shipment of Hawk anti-aircraft systems.
Kevliuk is not optimistic about the development potential of the Ukrainian military industry, and is critical of some kyiv policies. The former military man complains about the lack of coordination that exists in the sector, and considers the authorities’ response to this problem a mistake.
“The creation of the Ministry of Strategic Industries is a reissue of the Soviet experience in the field of defense production; “The industry does not need additional management structures, but long-term low-interest loans, simple, clear and transparent procedures, adequate taxes and training,” he notes.
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Kevliuk and Zagoroniuk agree in describing the threat posed by Russia to Ukraine as permanent. Not even a Ukrainian victory with a regime change in Moscow, Zagoroniuk thinks, would be a guarantee of security for Ukraine.
“We have to assume that for ten or twenty years the Russian Government will support its current policy” on Ukraine, says the former Defense Minister.
The situation, he emphasizes, not only endangers Ukraine, but also the entire democratic world, and will require “massive” military capabilities to deter or stop” Russia.
The characteristics of the war in Ukraine have put an end to an era in which conflicts were considered to be short-lived and they would be fought exclusively with “very precise weapons.”
“What we are seeing is that we continue to need massive amounts of ammunition and weapons,” concludes Zagoroniuk, which warns that the European arms industry is growing at an insufficient rate and trusts in the development of the sector in Ukraine so that the West can continue to defend itself with long-term guarantees.
EFE AND AFP
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