Russia is hitting Ukrainian railway lines with airstrikes to disrupt the delivery of desperately needed US weapons to the front and complicate military logistics, a Kiev intelligence source said on Friday.
The United States approved a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine this week and said the first deliveries should arrive within days, easing an acute shortage of artillery shells that has crippled Kiev’s forces for months.
As the aid was finalized after six months of wrangling in the US Congress, Russia’s defense minister said on Tuesday that Moscow would increase attacks on Western logistics centers and weapons storage sites.
On Thursday, Ukrainian railway infrastructure was targeted by Russian attacks in the eastern region of Donetsk, the northeast region of Kharkiv and the central region of Cherkasy, the national railway company said.
Ukrainian authorities rarely provide detailed statements about attacks on sensitive military targets, but the Ukrainian intelligence source confirmed to Reuters that there have been attacks on railway infrastructure aimed at disrupting weapons supplies.
“Also, the general complication of our logistics,” the source added.
Outnumbering and outpacing Kiev’s forces many times over, Russian troops have had the battlefield momentum since February, when they captured the city of Avdiivka, a longtime stronghold.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that the aim of the U.S. aid was to allow Ukraine to regain the initiative.
Russia has periodically attacked railway infrastructure during the 26-month invasion.
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Tags: Russia attacks Ukrainian railway lines disrupt arms supplies source
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