Dec 7 (Reuters) – A third Russian airport went up in flames in a drone strike, a day after Ukraine demonstrated its apparent ability to cross hundreds of kilometers into Russia by attacking two air bases.
Officials in the Russian city of Kursk, 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, released photos of black smoke billowing over the airport after Tuesday’s latest strike. The governor said an oil storage tank caught fire, but there were no casualties.
On Monday, Russia said what it said were Soviet-era drones struck at Engels Air Force Base, home to Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, and in Ryazan, hours from Moscow and hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine.
Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for the attacks, but celebrated them nonetheless.
The state news agency of Russia reports with reference to the first deputy of the government of this district that on Tuesday evening a siren sounded at the airport of Engels city.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his country’s determination to provide Ukraine with the equipment it needs to defend itself, saying that the country neither encouraged nor allowed Ukrainians to attack inside Russia.
The American representatives agreed to provide at least 800 million dollars of additional aid to Ukraine next year.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that three soldiers were killed in the attack in Ryazan. Although the attacks hit military targets, they described them as terrorism and said the aim was to disable its long-range aircraft.
Ukraine has never publicly claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russia. Defense Minister Olesky Reznikov, when asked about the strikes, repeated an old joke blaming carelessness with cigarettes. “Russians often smoke in places where smoking is prohibited,” he said.
Belarus, Russia’s next-door neighbor and a close ally, plans to deploy military equipment and troops on Wednesday and Thursday to test its response to terrorism, state news agency BelTA reported, adding that it will use simulated weapons for training.
For months, Ukraine has expressed concern about the possibility of planning a joint attack on Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus and Russia, although Belarus has said it will not enter the war.
“FEED AND CONTROL”
At least 20 oil tankers in line with Turkey to cross from Russian Black Sea ports to the Mediterranean face further delays as operators struggle to comply with new Turkish insurance rules ahead of G7 price caps on Russian oil, industry sources said. they take
A group official said the suspension of tanker shipments was not a result of the Russian oil price cap agreed by the G7 coalition and Australia.
The price of 60 dollars per barrel entered on Monday above the current price of Urals oil from Russia, the world’s second oil exporter.
A US finance official told Reuters that the G7 countries and Australia will be busy in the coming weeks with the determination of two more price levels for Russian oil products, which are due to take effect by February 5.
“I think the point is that we have all the leverage and all the control that we’ve been able to set the cap at $60 now,” the official said. Any reform will benefit the G7 and it will benefit Ukraine, it will benefit the world economy and not Russia.
ZELENSKY WITH THE TROOPS
The Ukrainian army said on Tuesday that Russian forces continue to shell towns and villages on the battlefields in the east, north-east and south of Ukraine.
Alexander Kulemzin, the mayor of the city installed by Russia, reported on his Telegram network that six people were killed as a result of rocket and artillery fire.
“Look what they did,” said resident Irina, pointing to the building where her home was destroyed. – People live there… Go to the field and fight with each other there, not here.
Dmitry Zhivitsky, the governor of the Sumy region on the Russian border, said that as a result of the firing of Russian forces during the day, 226 shells were fired into 7 neighborhoods, and several people were injured.
War crimes investigators are looking into the deaths of hundreds of civilians since the nearly 10-month conflict began. Russia denies targeting civilians during special operations to purge Ukraine of dangerous nationalists.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, visited the troops close to the front line in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.
Speaking later to the military in Kiev, Zelenskyi said he spent the day with troops in Donbass, the theater of the heaviest fighting, and in Kharkiv Oblast, where Ukrainians have retaken parts of the territory from Russian forces.
Zelensky, wearing a green khaki badge, told the crowd: “Thousands of Ukrainians have sacrificed their lives so that the day comes when not a single occupying soldier remains on our land and all our people are free.”
Report by Reuters; Written by Grant McCool and Lincoln Feast; Edited by Cynthia Osterman, Robert Birsel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
