Half-hour air alarm a reminder Russian attacks aren't stopping
One year and a day after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, a 30-minute-long air alarm sounded across Ukraine on Saturday, a blaring reminder that after a week of whirlwind diplomatic meetings and renewed vows of support for the country, the war shows no signs of stopping.
Ukrainian military reported Saturday that Russia had launched 27 airstrikes and 75 rocket attacks on cities and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine over the past 24 hours, but said that all of the assaults aimed at gaining territory had been repelled.
Though Ukraine remains braced for another large-scale missile bombardment, Western and Ukrainian officials have said that Russia is running low on precision missiles.
It also likely is facing a shortage of the Iranian-made attack drones that it has used in its efforts to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses, the British military intelligence agency said Saturday.
Ukraine shot down 24 such drones from late January to early February, the agency said, with the last attack using the drones having taken place nearly two weeks ago.
“Although the weapons do not have a good record in destroying their intended targets, Russia likely sees them as useful decoys which can divert Ukrainian air defenses from more effective Russian cruise missiles,” the British agency said.
As Russia struggled to make gains on the battlefield despite adding tens of thousands of newly mobilized soldiers into the fight, the Kremlin was silent on the anniversary of the war.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, noted that “Russian President Vladimir Putin and his administration made no statements relating to the anniversary even though Putin has made numerous public appearances over the past three days.”
The institute suggested that the absence of public statements was because “Russia has failed to achieve any of its stated objectives and has not made significant territorial gains since July 2022.”