Moscow says Russian forces have destroyed US, European weapons in eastern Ukraine

Russia says its forces have destroyed American and European weapons in eastern Ukraine, where heavy fighting is under way between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

Since the onset of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, the United States and its European allies have been pouring batches of advanced weapons into the ex-Soviet country.

Russia has time and again warned the West’s flood of weapons will not force Moscow to end the operation before achieving its objectives. The Kremlin says the unprecedented sanctions against Russia, plus the flow of arms into Ukraine, would only prolong the war.

On Monday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its high-precision air-based missiles had destroyed a large quantity of weapons and military equipment in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including some that had been supplied by the US and its European allies.

“High-precision air-launched missiles destroyed – in the area of the Udachne railway station in the [self-proclaimed] Donetsk People's Republic – a large number of weapons and military equipment delivered for Ukrainian nationalist groups, including from the United States and European countries,” said the ministry in a statement.

“In addition, the following were destroyed: a temporary deployment point for foreign mercenaries in the Fedorivka area of the [self-proclaimed] Luhansk People's Republic, as well as two batteries of multiple launch rocket systems in the Prohres area, Kharkiv region and Vovchoiarivka, Luhansk People's Republic.”

The defense ministry on Sunday said the military had destroyed a large depot containing US and European weapons in western Ukraine’s Ternopil region with Kalibr cruise missiles.

Russia says destroys large depot of Western weapons in Ukraine with cruise missiles

Russia says its have destroyed a large depot containing US and European weapons in western Ukraine

Ukraine hopes to outnumber the Russians both technologically and in quantities of artillery. Kiev heavily relies on its Western allies to support and fulfill their promises to regain the Donbas, composed of two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk that Moscow has vowed to “liberate.”

This after the Washington Post quoted on Sunday an unnamed senior US defense official as saying that the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in Luhansk were “increasingly under duress” and could fall to Russian forces within weeks.

Russia has already “liberated” 97 percent of the Luhansk province, but capturing the strategic city of Severodonetsk remains crucial to its broader goal of controlling the flashpoint Donbas region.

Moscow says US plan to sell armed drones to Ukraine will not impact Russia’s military operation

The Kremlin says the US plan to sell armed drones to Ukraine will not affect Russia’s military operation.

Ukrainian troops pushed back from Severodonetsk center: Kiev

Separately on Monday, Ukraine said its forces had been pushed back by Russian troops from the center of Severodonetsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already described the fight there as a battle for “literally every meter.”

Russian forces were “gathering more and more equipment” to “encircle” Severodonetsk, said regional governor Sergiy Gaiday, adding that they had “pushed our troops from the center and continue to destroy our city.”

Meanwhile, Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russia separatists, said Severodonetsk had been “de facto” blocked off after Russian forces blew up the “last” bridge connecting it to Lysychansk a day earlier. “The Ukrainian units that are there, they are there forever. They have two options: to surrender or die,” he added.

The two flash points of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in eastern Luhansk.

If Russians mange to fully seize Severodonetsk, they will be able to open a road to another major city – Kramatorsk – in their move toward capturing the entire Donbas.

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