RUSSIA: AIR DEFENSES FOIL DRONE ATTACK BY UKRAINE

Russian air defenses shot down 31 Ukrainian drones during a concerted nighttime attack by Kyiv’s forces on border regions, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday, as uncertainty grew over Ukraine’s future access to weapons and ammunition from Western allies.

The drone attack appeared to be Kyiv’s largest single cross-border drone assault reported by Moscow since the Kremlin launched its invasion 20 months ago. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Ukraine is pressing on with the slow-moving counteroffensive it launched three months ago to expel Russian invaders, though mounting concerns about replenishing its military stocks and cracks in the Western wall of support cast a cloud over the effort.

Adm. Rob Bauer, the head of NATO’s military committee, sounded the alarm about depleted stockpiles.

“The bottom of the barrel is now visible,” Bauer said of weapons systems and ammunition supplies.

With the war of attrition likely continuing through winter into next year, Bauer urged the defense industry to boost production “at a much higher tempo. And we need large volumes,” he told the Warsaw Security Forum, an annual two-day conference that continued Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not provide any evidence for its claims about intercepting Ukrainian drones.

It also said Russian aircraft thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to deploy a group of soldiers by sea to the western side of Russian-occupied Crimea. The force attempted to land on Cape Tarkhankut using a highspeed boat and three personal watercraft, the ministry said.

Moscow’s claims could not be independently verified, and Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment.

The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has been a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks. The region has been the key hub supporting the invasion.

Concerns over the resupply of Ukraine’s armed forces have deepened amid political turmoil in the United States. The U.S. is by far Ukraine’s largest military supplier, but a faction in the House Republican majority, and many GOP voters, oppose sending more military aid to Ukraine.

The Pentagon has warned Congress that it is running low on money to replace weapons the U.S. has sent to Ukraine.