Kyiv, Ukraine
Reuters
Russia has launched more than 8,000 missiles and 4,630 drones at targets in Ukraine since its invasion two years ago, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said on Thursday.
Ukrainian air defences have shot down 3,605 of the drones, he said in televised comments that gave an idea of the scale of Russia’s aerial onslaught on Ukraine in two years of war since the full-scale invasion on 24th February, 2022.
An explosion of a drone is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 25th November, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
Ihnat said small mobile teams of drone hunters were now bringing down most of the drones fired at Ukraine, including Iranian-made Shaheds, and their success rate was high.
In the latest overnight attack on Thursday, eight out of 10 Russian-launched drones were shot down over four Ukrainian regions, Ihnat said.
After two years of war, Moscow controls almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory including the Crimea peninsula it annexed in 2014 although the front lines have largely stagnated in the last 14 months.
Ukraine’s defences have been strengthened by deliveries of advanced air defence systems from Western allies, including US Patriots. Ihnat did not provide overall numbers for such assistance and Ukrainian officials have said repeatedly that they need more weapons from abroad to support the war effort.
The overall number of Ukrainian military casualties is also not made public in a war that has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, destroyed cities, towns and villages, forced millions from their homes and placed hundreds of thousands more under occupation.
Ihnat said Russia had prioritised targets such as agriculture facilities, port infrastructure, weapons production and the oil and gas sector this winter – a shift in tactics after focusing primarily on the energy system last winter, causing long blackouts for millions of people.
Russia says it fires only on military targets but has acknowledged targeting energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Britain announced a new package of sanctions against Russia on Thursday, saying it was seeking to diminish President Vladimir Putin’s weapons arsenal and war chest two years after the invasion of Ukraine.
The package, covering more than 50 individuals and entities, was announced two days before Saturday’s second anniversary of the full-scale invasion and is part of a coordinated Western effort to restrict the Russian economy.
“Our international economic pressure means Russia cannot afford this illegal invasion. Our sanctions are starving Putin of the resources he desperately needs to fund his struggling war,” Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a statement.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his welcome, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 12th January, 2024. PICTURE: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters/File photo
The European Union on Wednesday approved its own package of sweeping sanctions, banning nearly 200 entities and individuals accused of helping Moscow procure weapons or of involvement in kidnapping Ukrainian children.
Britain sanctioned companies linked to the Russian ammunition industry, including what it said was the largest, the Sverdlov State Owned Enterprise, and targeted sources of revenue in the metals, diamonds and energy industries.
That included a Turkish company Britain said was supplying electronics to Russia, three electronics companies in China and executives at Russian diamond producer Alrosa. It also added managers of copper producer UMMC to the list.
Alrosa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The foreign office also imposed sanctions on what it said were key Russian importers and manufacturers of machine tools used to manufacture defence systems and components ranging from missiles and engines to tanks and fighter jets.
The government also said it was preparing to strengthen its powers to target “malign Russian shipping activity and individual ‘shadow fleet’ vessels used by Russia to soften the blow of oil-related sanctions”.
Britain this week imposed sanctions on six individuals in charge of the Arctic penal colony where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died.
There are more than 2,000 Russian individuals, companies and groups on Britain’s sanctions list.
– With additional reporting by FAROUQ SULEIMAN and ALEXANDER MARROW
