Andriyivka fallen?

Russia: Next Donbass village captured

A Russian missile launcher in action in Ukraine(Bild: AP/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service)

The Russian Ministry of Defense has reported the capture of the strategically important village of Andriyivka in the eastern Ukrainian Donbass. Ukraine has not yet commented on this. Meanwhile, several people have been killed and injured in a Russian missile attack on the city of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine.

In September 2023, Ukraine claimed to have recaptured Andriyivka, near Bakhmut, from Russian troops, but new fighting was reported from there in January. The village is considered largely destroyed.

Dead and missing in Kharkiv
According to preliminary information, there are at least four dead in Kharkiv, according to military governor Oleh Synyehubov. "The Russian army has carried out at least 15 strikes," he said. Mayor Ihor Terekhov also wrote of seven injured, with several people still missing. Transport infrastructure buildings were hit, as well as a private company.

Selenskyj: "Extremely brutal attack"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the "extremely brutal attack". The "Russian terrorists" were taking advantage of Ukraine's inadequate air defense, he wrote on X. In addition, reliable weapons are needed to hit the positions close to the border on Russian territory.

Zelenskyi is calling on the USA and other Western allies to be allowed to use the supplied weapons for strikes against Russia, for example to stop the advance in the Kharkiv region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that no arms delivery from the West would deter Russia from its war aims.

Russian threat to the British "beyond the borders of Ukraine"
On the contrary: if Ukraine were to fire on Russian territory with British weapons, the Kremlin is threatening to attack British targets. These could be targeted "on the territory of Ukraine and beyond its borders", said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday. She thus reiterated a warning recently issued by the Russian leadership.

This was prompted by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron's statement that Ukraine had the right to use weapons supplied by London against targets in Russia. Russia reacted indignantly and cited the statements as a reason for current military exercises, which include a simulation of the launch of tactical nuclear missiles.