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A Ukrainian drone attack on a bus traveling from Moscow to Crimea left seven people dead and eleven others injured, authorities in Ukraine’s Moscow-controlled Donetsk region, where the attack occurred, said.
Kiev’s drones also hit a maxi-oil terminal in St. Petersburg, on the day the International Economic Forum begins. A Russian missile plant also burned during the night, while Ukrainian drones also targeted Moscow and Leningrad.
The attacks take place the day after a nightmarish night for Kiev and all of Ukraine, with Moscow continuing to intensify raids that massacre civilians and undermine peace.
In the capital, awakened once again by sirens and explosions, the death toll from the night between Monday and Tuesday was at least six deaths, but the one who paid the most for the massive Russian attack was Dnipro, with 15 victims, including two children, after the collapse of a four-storey residential building. More than 120 people were injured in both cities, with rescuers spending the day digging under the rubble. A work that has represented the tragic daily life of Ukrainians for over four years now. And he sees no end in sight, with the United States having put aside the dossier for the war with Iran, while Volodymyr Zelensky continues to repeat that “American help is absolutely needed in supplying missiles to the Patriots”.
“This night, important targets on the territory of Russia were hit. Among them, the St. Petersburg oil terminal. From our Ukrainian state border to this target of the Russian oil industry, which works for the war, there are about 1,100 kilometers. Purely military targets on the Kronstadt base were also reached.” Thus on Telegram the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claims responsibility for the drone attacks during the night. The Spief economic summit promoted by Putin, the so-called ‘Russian Davos’, begins today in St. Petersburg.
“Another target – adds Zelensky – is an enterprise in the Tambov region, involved in the production of Russian weapons. The distance from the front line is almost 600 kilometers. Thanks to our soldiers for their precision. The Ukrainian long-range sanctions plan is executed exactly as necessary to bring peace closer. Glory to Ukraine!”.
“Overnight, Russia launched 656 attack drones and 73 missiles of various types: ballistic, cruise, anti-ship against our citizens. A large-scale attack and an absolutely transparent statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile attacks, these attacks will continue,” the Ukrainian president said. The Kiev subway was crowded overnight with over 40,000 residents who sought refuge in the tunnels. In Odessa, a maternity hospital with newborns and women in labor was hit but there were no casualties.
And in Kharkiv, fifteen people, including a child, were injured in a Russian attack, while authorities in the oblast of the same name ordered the mandatory evacuation of 7,000 people in border towns with Russia, amid fears of an advance.
Moscow claimed responsibility for the raids, speaking only of “systematic attacks against Ukrainian military infrastructure in Kiev” and other cities. “We have always said that we prefer to achieve our goals peacefully, but if the other side continues to refuse to participate in real peace negotiations, then the special military operation will continue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made clear, adding that “the war could end by the end of the day, as long as Zelensky orders his troops to withdraw from Russian territory.”
According to analysts, the escalation of Russian attacks represents an attempt by the Kremlin to reaffirm its superiority in the war. In recent times, Russia has suffered attacks on oil refineries which have fueled fears of fuel shortages in the country. Moscow’s army appears to be in difficulty on the battlefield, where according to AFP, Ukraine has regained more territory than it lost in May, for the second consecutive month. According to the Washington Post, the escalation could then signal an attempt to force the resumption of peace talks, drawing the attention of Donald Trump, who is currently focused on the war in Iran. According to a recent analysis published by ‘Russia in Global Affairs’, one of the main Russian foreign policy magazines, Putin’s war objectives are in fact now unattainable and Western support for Kiev has now made it impossible for Russia to surpass Ukraine in terms of military spending. Additionally, billions of dollars of potential American investments in the Russian economy remain pending with the stalled negotiations, as does the easing of Western sanctions.
For its part, Kiev continues to hope for a visit by US envoys to Ukraine to restart negotiations.
According to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Kyrylo Budanov, an agreement to end the war against Russia by winter remains a “realistic” horizon. But in the meantime, the Kremlin has announced that after several years of absence, an official US delegation is expected at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, scheduled from tomorrow to June 6. Certainly not an encouraging sign for Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces.