Ukraine steps up long-range attacks, destroys Russian submarine and targets airfield
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has destroyed a Russian submarine and targeted a Russian airfield in the past 24 hours, as part of a surge of long-range assaults against Russian objectives, officials stated. Russia claimed Ukrainian drones also struck an apartment building, resulting in the death of one individual.
The increase in assaults since July comes as Ukraine urges its allies to permit the use of long-range missiles to attack targets in Russia. Western allies, particularly the U.S., have so far refused, fearing increased tension from Moscow.
Ukraine targeted a Russian Kilo-class submarine and an S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in the Moscow-held Crimean peninsula, according to a report from the General Staff on Saturday. The air defense system was put in place to safeguard the Kerch Strait Bridge, an essential logistics and transport center supplying Russian forces.
Missile units, along with the Navy, disabled four launchers of the Triumph air defense system, while in the port of Sevastopol, the “Rostov-on-Don” — a submarine of Russia’s Black Sea fleet — was targeted and sunk, the report mentioned.
The General Staff also verified that Ukrainian forces attacked the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region after initiating an extensive drone onslaught on Russia. Strikes hit warehouses storing ammunition, including guided aerial bombs. The operation was executed by the Security Service of Ukraine, the Main Directorate of Intelligence, and the Defense Ministry, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on an apartment building in the town of Shebekino early Sunday. Ukrainian drones also caused damage to several other buildings in the town, he stated.
Gladkov mentioned that eight civilians in the region were injured by Ukrainian bombardment and numerous drone attacks since the previous day.
Over the course of a month, Russia has witnessed a surge in the frequency of Ukrainian drone attacks and long-range strikes, aimed at Russian military facilities, such as airfields and fuel depots. Analysts suggest that such an escalation is necessary for Ukraine to diminish Russian capabilities.
In other news:
— Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, revealed that he has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations to investigate a photo allegedly depicting the body of a Ukrainian prisoner of war tortured and executed by Russian forces. He has also urged Ukrainian authorities to verify the identity of the deceased.
The image, circulating on social media, shows the body of an individual without a head or limbs. The Associated Press could not verify its authenticity.
“This is not just a violation of the Geneva Convention concerning the Treatment of Prisoners of War, this is the conduct of monsters,” Lubinets declared in a statement on Telegram.