“…the Russian Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a group missile attack with long-range precision weapons, air and sea based, on the military-industrial complex of Ukraine,” the ministry said during its daily media briefing, adding that “all assigned targets were hit.”

While the Russian military did not specify which locations had been targeted exactly, Ukrainian media reported strikes in Kiev, Sumy and Dnepropetrovsk regions. The latter has apparently experienced the worst, with a massive explosion reported on the outskirts of the city of Pavlograd.

Unverified footage circulating online shows the aftermath of the strikes near the city. The attack apparently also caused a massive secondary explosion, followed by multiple lesser blasts. Available footage shows numerous columns of white smoke at the location, typically caused by the detonation of solid-fuel projectiles such as anti-aircraft missiles.

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The Pavlograd strike destroyed the stockpiles of fuel and ammunition of Ukraine’s 46th Airborne Brigade, which has been readying itself for the much-hyped looming Ukrainian counteroffensive, Vladimir Rogov, a senior Russian official in Zaporozhye Region, has claimed, citing the reports of locals. The strikes also destroyed two S-300 anti-aircraft batteries stationed in the area, the official told news agency TASS.

According to Ukrainian emergency services, the explosions in Pavlograd damaged and destroyed up to 80 residential homes and about two dozen multi-story buildings. Emergency services have also acknowledged damage to an unspecified “industrial facility” in the area without revealing its exact nature.

In recent days, both Russia and Ukraine have seemingly ramped up long-range attacks against each other, with the uptick in military activities coming ahead of the long-advertised Ukrainian counteroffensive. Moscow has claimed the destruction of several command posts used by the Ukrainian military, and has reported striking groupings of Ukrainian reserves. Kiev’ for its part, has ramped up shelling of residential areas of Russia’s city of Donetsk, as well as other border regions, inflicting multiple civilian casualties.

Ukrainian forces also carried out an attack on an oil deport in Crimea, with the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military’s southern command, Natalya Gumenyuk, confirming the strike came in preparation for Kiev’s counteroffensive.  RT

Support for Ukraine depends on counteroffensive – top US Republican

The success or failure of the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces will decide the future of Western aid to Kiev, US Congressman Michael McCaul has told Bloomberg. The Texas Republican also offered a scenario for what might happen afterward.

“You’re going to see a counteroffensive very soon now,” McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Bloomberg TV on Monday. “I think there’s going to be a lot riding on the line with this counteroffensive. If Ukraine is successful in the eyes of the American people and the world, I think it will be a game-changer for continued support. If they are not, that will also have an impact, in a negative way, though.”

Republicans currently have a small majority in the House of Representatives, while Democrats hold the Senate and the White House. While some members of the party have criticized the amount of weapons, ammunition and money sent to Kiev, McCaul is part of the group that favors sending more, and faster.

Ukraine has been trumpeting the start of a major attack for weeks, though multiple officials have complained about a lack of ammunition, weapons, and even the weather.

Speaking to Bloomberg’s ‘Balance of Power’ show, McCaul ventured a guess as to where the fighting might happen.

“My prediction is they will try to go down and hit the land bridge in Crimea and have a very dramatic bold strategy that then would push back Russian aggression,” he said, adding that afterward Kiev could possibly “call for a ceasefire, after which we can then maybe have negotiations, to finally resolve this.”

Such a scenario was outlined last month by Politico, in a story alleging the US government was skeptical of Kiev’s chances in battle and pushing for an open-ended truce that would enable Ukraine to catch a break.

Last week, the US general commanding NATO forces in Europe told Congress that Kiev’s forces had already received 98% of the promised armored vehicles from the West. President Vladimir Zelensky’s top adviser, Mikhail Podoliak, disagreed on Ukrainian TV, calling the estimate “much too large.”

The Russian Defense Ministry estimated that the US and its allies had delivered more than $100 billion worth of weapons, equipment and ammunition to Ukraine as of December 2022. Multiple Western governments have pointed out that their stockpiles are now running low and gearing up production to meet Kiev’s needs would take years. RT