DUkraine has denied any responsibility for the attack on a Moscow concert hall. Ukrainian military intelligence accused “Russian special services” of being behind the attack in order to blame Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the USA for quickly exonerating Ukraine as a possible mastermind. It raises questions if the US were to draw such conclusions while the tragedy was still unfolding. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this on Russian television on Friday evening.
The terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack, which left dozens dead and more than 100 injured.
Power supply still disrupted after Russian attacks
After the heavy Russian air strikes on energy facilities in Ukraine, technicians are trying to restore power supply. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in his video message on Friday evening. “The situation is most difficult in Kharkiv.” Work is underway in the eastern Ukrainian city to ensure electricity for critical infrastructure and households again. Much has already been done to restore electricity, water and heat supplies in the Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia and Poltava regions. “Work is still underway in the Odessa region,” Zelensky said.
On Saturday night there was another air alert in some parts of Ukraine because Russian combat drones were flying in. Further rocket hits were reported from Kharkiv shortly after midnight. Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported 15 explosions on Telegram. “There are problems with electricity supply in the city. The enemy is targeting the energy structure.” There are fires in several places after the impacts.
At the same time, Russian Telegram channels reported that another Russian oil refinery was allegedly hit by a Ukrainian drone – this time in the Samara region on the Volga.
he Russian air strike on Friday night saw a hail of around 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones fall over Ukraine. Ukraine’s largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnipro River near Zaporizhzhia was badly damaged. There was a complete power outage in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Zelenskyj complains about the lack of anti-aircraft defense
Given the damage, Zelensky complained that foreign partners were not supplying enough anti-aircraft weapons. Real and complete protection against Russian missiles and drones is only possible “if our partners have sufficient will,” he said. “Russian terror is only possible because we do not have enough modern air defense systems, which, to be honest, means there is a lack of political will to provide them.”
Ukraine’s air defense has already been strengthened with powerful systems such as Patriot and Iris-T. But the number of weapons is not enough to effectively protect all regions of Ukraine.
Ukraine wants to continue attacking Russian oil facilities
An explosion and then a fire were observed in the Russian oil refinery in the city of Novokuybyshevsk near the Volga on Saturday night, Telegram channels reported. A drone attack was probably the trigger, it was said. The local civil defense confirmed the fire.
The attack came a day after a report in the Financial Times newspaper that the US wanted to stop Ukraine from attacking Russian oil facilities. The background is the fear of an escalation and rising global oil prices before the US presidential election. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian secret services have systematically bombarded Russian oil refineries with combat drones far behind the front, for example in Ryazan, Kstovo near Nizhny Novgorod and in Krasnodar.
However, Ukraine made it clear that it would not allow itself to be influenced into these attacks. From a military perspective, the oil facilities are legitimate targets for Ukraine, said Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanischyna, responsible for European and transatlantic integration, in Kiev. She indirectly confirmed that there had been such warnings from Washington.
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