Almost every night, Russia bombs cities in Ukraine, claiming to only target military infrastructure, despite numerous examples of civilian sites being hit. In return, Ukraine regularly targets towns near the border, in particular that of Belgorod, but also, and successfully, industrial and military sites on Russian territory.
To confront these attacks and carry out their own, the Ukrainian authorities depend largely on weapons and ammunition supplied by the West. However, due to internal differences, aid from the United States, by far the primary support, is paralyzed. That of the European Union is also at a standstill due to the blockage in Hungary and a European summit on the issue is planned for February 1.
Information to remember
⇒ A new night attack by Russian drones and missiles
⇒ Ukraine uncovers embezzlement of $40 million for arms purchase
⇒ Ukrainian military intelligence chief questions lack of images of bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in recent military plane crash
Ukraine: new night attack by Russian drones and missiles
Russia carried out a new nighttime drone and missile attack against four regions of Ukraine, leaving at least three injured, including a teenager, the Ukrainian armed forces said this Sunday, January 28. According to the Air Force, eight Shahed-type explosive drones, two Iskander missiles and three S-300 missiles were launched during the night and only four drones could be shot down.
“Various civilian sites and critical infrastructure were attacked in Poltava, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk,” she added, without specifying what damage was noted. The prosecutor’s office in the Donetsk region, for its part, indicated that a missile had fallen on a residential area of the city of Myrnograd in the middle of the night, causing injuries.
“A 15-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man suffered injuries from the explosion, cuts and bruises. In a neighboring house, doctors diagnosed head trauma in a 30-year-old resident,” a- he indicated.
Ukraine uncovers embezzlement of $40 million for arms purchase
Ukrainian military officials and business leaders embezzled $40 million in an arms purchase at the start of the war launched by Moscow, the SBU, the country’s main intelligence and security agency, has revealed.
The embezzlement occurred in August 2022, six months after the Russian invasion of the country, in connection with the purchase abroad of 100,000 mortar shells which were never delivered, according to an SBU press release broadcast during the night from Saturday to Sunday. The funds (1.5 billion hrvynias) had in reality been embezzled by officials of the Ministry of Defense and the Lviv Arsenal company, mandated for the purchase, with the complicity of a foreign company, according to this source.
“A senior official of the Ministry of Defense and his predecessor, the director and the sales manager of a Ukrainian company as well as the representative of a foreign company were notified of a notice of suspicion”, specified the general prosecutor’s office . One of the suspects is in custody after being arrested “during an attempt to leave Ukraine,” the SBU said. The investigation was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the SBU and the prosecutor’s office emphasized.
Several corruption cases have emerged in Ukraine since the outbreak of war in February 2022, particularly within this ministry. In August 2023, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed all regional officials in charge of military recruitment, due to exemptions granted for remuneration.
Ukraine to Russia: where are the bodies of the prisoners?
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) Kyrylo Budanov questioned on Saturday the absence of images of the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the recent crash of a military plane, which Moscow blames on Kiev. Russia accuses Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane in a Russian border region on Wednesday, killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were going to be exchanged that day, according to Moscow.
While Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, it has expressed doubts about the presence of Ukrainian prisoners on board. “There are a number of elements that are unclear,” Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview on Ukrainian state television. “First of all, they did not show fields covered with corpses and remains,” he detailed. “If it happened as Russia claims, why does Russia continue to hide the bodies?” he asked.
Russia’s investigative committee has released three videos of what it says is the crash site. One of them shows a blurry close-up of a dead body. Another shows a forensic team sealing a body bag. The third is grainy footage purporting to show vehicles transporting the prisoners to the plane before it takes off, but the quality is too poor to verify. “There are no bodies. There is nothing,” commented Kyrylo Boudanov.
Two Ukrainians killed in raid on their village
Two Ukrainian civilians were shot dead in their village, bordering Russia, during an incursion by a group of Russian soldiers, local authorities announced. The attack occurred in the Sumy region, within a five-kilometer zone bordering the border with Russia, which kyiv had asked residents to evacuate.
“This morning, an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group brutally and cynically shot and killed one of our brothers and one of our sisters,” the regional administration said in a statement. It happened in the village of Andriivka, 4 km from the border with Russia’s Kursk region, she said. In a separate statement, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General said the victims were a 54-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman killed while riding in a car. He released a photo of what he said was their vehicle, showing front and rear windows blown out.