Summary
It’s 11pm in Kyiv. Here’s where things stand:
Ukrainian forces are refusing to discard US-provided arms, with many reverse-engineering spare parts to continue the counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion. “They’re not willing to scrap it,” one soldier said, recalling artillery with shrapnel damage and sometimes completely worn out from firing round after round against Russian troops, Reuters reports.
The Ukrainian military said that Russia has deployed Iranian attack drones, the New York Times reported on Sunday. According to a Ukrainian military official who spoke to the New York Times, remnants of the Shahed-136 attack drones have been discovered on the ground during the counteroffensive that Ukraine launched in the northeastern regions of the country this month.
The Ukrainian military has carried out 20 airstrikes in the last 24 hours against Russian strongholds, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Kyiv Independent reported on Sunday that Ukraine’s Air Force has successfully targeted 15 Russian strongholds and four sites, as well as seven control points.
Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili levied heavy criticism against Russia on Sunday after the discovery of mass graves in Izium earlier this week. Zourabichvili condemned “in the strongest terms the atrocities committed by Russia in Izium,” adding that “these war crimes must be answered by justice,” the Kyiv Independent reports.
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Sunday that the mass graves discovered in Ukraine was evidence of Russia’s war crimes in the country. “Obviously the UK and Canada have been two of the strongest countries in standing up in support of Ukraine and pushing back against Russia’s illegal actions,” Trudeau told reporters in London where he will be attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.
Updated
Ukrainian forces are refusing to discard US-provided arms, with many reverse-engineering spare parts to continue the counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion.
Reuters reports:
Some members of a roughly 50-member repair team showed reporters images of damaged U.S.-provided arms, including M777 howitzers, that in the West would have long been considered beyond the scope of repair.
Not in Ukraine.
“They’re not willing to scrap it,” one soldier said, recalling artillery with shrapnel damage and sometimes completely worn out from firing round after round against Russian troops.
But Ukrainians are managing to bring these weapons back into battle, thanks to guidance from U.S. forces and manufacturing prowess by Kyiv allowing it to reverse-engineer spare parts.
Since the program began in June, more than a dozen teleconference channels have been set up with over 100 Ukrainian contacts.
But priority support is being given to the M777s and to the high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), which have been central to Ukraine’s counter-offensive nearly seven months since Russian forces invaded.
“Combat power for Ukraine is staying at the level it is because of America’s investment in the sustainment,” the soldier said.
