Poland stops sending weapons as Ukraine attacks Crimean air base

Ukraine attacks Crimean air base

The Ukrainian army claimed on Thursday to have attacked a Russian military airfield near the Crimean town of Saky, in a new attack by Kiev on this Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow and used as a base for its invasion of Ukraine.

“Ukrainian defense forces carried out a combined attack on a military airfield of the occupiers near the town of Saky” on Wednesday night, the army’s communications center reported on Telegram, without giving further details.

A source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said this was a joint operation by the SBU and naval forces using Ukrainian-made drones and Neptune cruise missiles.

The attack comes just a day after Russian-installed authorities in Crimea announced they had thwarted Ukrainian missile and drone attacks on Sevastopol and the area around its main port, a crucial facility for the Russian navy.

According to Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvojaev, Ukrainian forces had attacked the city with missiles and two neighboring cities, Kacha and Verkhnessadovoye, with drones.

On September 13, an attack damaged two ships and injured 24 people at a Sevastopol shipyard. In August, a particularly massive attack involving 42 drones targeted the peninsula, following a commando operation by Ukrainian forces.

The Ukrainian military has also repeatedly attacked Russian ships sailing in the Black Sea or docked in Crimea and Russian ports along the coast.

Difficult times ahead for Ukraine, kyiv warns

Ukrainian officials have warned that the country faces “difficult months ahead.”

“Difficult months await us: Russia will continue to attack Ukraine’s energy and essential facilities,” deputy head of the presidential administration Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.

With the arrival of winter, Ukrainian authorities fear that Moscow will relaunch its campaign of attacks aimed at plunging civilians into the cold and darkness, as it did last winter.

Russian missiles rain down on Ukrainian cities

Several cities and towns in Ukraine were hit by Russian rockets overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, killing two people in Kherson and wounding others in kyiv.

Residential areas of the southern city of Kherson were reportedly shelled and two men aged 29 and 41 were killed in an attack on an apartment building. Four other people were hospitalized, including one in serious condition.

According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, seven people in the capital kyiv were injured by falling debris from downed Russian missiles, including a 9-year-old girl.

Several people were also injured in the town of Cherkassy, ​​after a hotel was hit by a Russian attack.

The eastern city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, was also bombed, along with the northwestern region of Lviv.

Although Moscow denies attacking Ukrainian civilians, experts told Euronews in June that there was a deliberate strategy behind its bombing campaign.

Poland will stop supplying weapons to Ukraine

Warsaw announced on Wednesday night that it would no longer send weapons to kyiv, amid a growing rift between the two countries over grain.

“We will no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on television.

“We are mainly focused on rapidly modernizing and arming the Polish army, so that it becomes one of the most powerful land armies in Europe,” he said.

Morawiecki specified that a military center in Rzeszow, through which Western equipment destined for Ukraine passes, continues to function normally.

The prime minister did not detail when Poland, one of Ukraine’s largest arms suppliers, would cut supplies or whether the move was related to their grain dispute.

With elections around the corner at home, Warsaw has imposed a ban on Ukrainian grains to protect its own farmers, who have complained that they cannot compete with its cheaper imports.

Speaking at the UN on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a scathing comment about Poland’s move, saying that “certain countries” were “feigning solidarity” with Kiev “by indirectly supporting Russia.”

This, in turn, provoked a harsh response from the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister, who said it was “untrue” and “unjustified considering that Poland has supported Ukraine since the first days of the war.”

Zelenskyy in Washington to ensure continued US support

Aware that some in the United States are tiring of support, Ukraine’s No. 1 will visit the White House on Thursday.

Zelenskyy likely wants five things from Washington, his richest and most powerful ally, as his country’s counteroffensive continues.

Read more below.

Zelenskyy criticizes “criminal” Russia at the UN

Ukraine’s leader challenged Russia during a rare session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, denouncing Moscow’s “aggression.”

He also lamented how Russia was “blocking” the UN body with its veto power.

“The majority of countries in the world recognize the truth about this war,” Zelenskyy said, facing the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia.

“This is a criminal and unjustified aggression by Russia against our nation, the aim of which is to seize the territory and resources of Ukraine,” he said, dressed in his usual khaki green uniform.

He urged the UN to rescind Russia’s veto power in the Security Council, which it enjoys as one of five permanent members, along with China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“The right of veto in the hands of the aggressor blocks the UN,” he said, stating that it is “impossible to stop” the war due to Russia’s veto and its support from other UN countries.

Different attitudes toward the Ukraine war prevail in the Global South, with many states abstaining from UN resolutions condemning Moscow and instead calling for peace talks.

Wednesday’s speech was the first time since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022 that Zelenskyy spoke in person at the UN Security Council.