WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia attacks Ukraine's rail lines to disrupt supply of U.S. arms, source says

Russia is targeting Ukrainian rail lines with airstrikes to disrupt the delivery of desperately needed U.S. weapons to the front and complicate military logistics, a Kyiv 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 in a matter of days, easing acute shortages of artillery shells that have hamstrung Kyiv's forces for months.

As the aid was finalised after six months of congressional wrangling, Russia's defence minister said on Tuesday that Moscow would increase attacks on logistics centres and storage sites holding Western weapons.

On Thursday, Ukrainian rail infrastructure was targeted by Russian strikes in the eastern Donetsk region, northeastern Kharkiv region and central Cherkasy region, the national rail company said.

The attack in Donetsk, which is the main focus of Russia's offensive in the east, killed three electrical mechanics working for the railway company and wounded four more, it said.

In Kharkiv, which borders Russia, a strike hit the railway station in the city of Balakliia, injuring 13 people, including three rail workers, officials said. The town of Balakliia was liberated from Russian forces in 2022.

Ukrainian officials seldom provide detailed statements about strikes on sensitive military targets, but the Ukrainian intelligence source confirmed to Reuters there had been attacks on rail infrastructure aimed at disrupting the supply of weapons.

"Also, the overall complication of our logistics," the source added.

Outnumbering and outgunning Kyiv's forces many times over, Russian troops have had the battlefield momentum since February when they captured the long-time bastion town of Avdiivka.

A U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday that the goal of the aid from the United States was to enable Ukraine to regain the initiative.

Kyiv faces manpower shortages on the battlefield and questions linger over the strength of its fortifications along a sprawling, 1,000-km (621-mile) front line.

Russia has periodically attacked rail infrastructure throughout the 26-months invasion.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

In April, Ukrzaliznytsia, the railway company, temporarily suspended all deliveries to the southern Black Sea port of Chornomorsk.

It gave no reason for the decisions but Ukrainian media outlets reported that Russian attacks could have damaged railway tracks to the port's cargo terminals.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

US has no Patriots to spare for Ukraine – White House

Washington is not willing to risk undermining its own security, but the US government is working around the clock to pressure the EU, NATO and other partners to share their air defense capabilities with Kiev instead, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has said.

Addressing the virtual meeting of the so-called Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday, President Vladimir Zelensky demanded “at least seven”Patriot batteries from his sponsors, but Kiev’s main backer allegedly has none to spare.

“The US Patriot systems right now are being deployed around the world, including in the Middle East, to protect US troops,” Sullivan told MSNBC later in the day.

“If we can unlock further American Patriot batteries we would send them. But we are doing a lot of the supplying of the actual missiles that go into those batteries that get fired,” the US official insisted.

The Pentagon has indeed pledged additional Patriot munitions as part of a “historic” $6bn assistance package announced on Friday. However, the interceptors could take months or even years to arrive, as the batch will not come from the existing Pentagon stockpiles and the announcement “represents the beginning of a contracting process” with the US defense industry.

A single MIM-104 Patriot battery, which is manufactured by US arms giant Raytheon, costs over $1 billion, and consists of multiple truck-mounted units, including power, radar, antenna, engagement control and other support vehicles – as well as up to eight launchers with interceptor missiles.

The US produced over 1,100 Patriot launchers over the years and is estimated to have hundreds of them in active service and in storage – but only sent a single battery to Ukraine. Two more full batteries were donated by Germany, while the Netherlands shared two individual launchers.

“In the meantime what we’re gonna do is work with European partners and partners in other parts of the world to get them to provide additional air defense capability to Ukraine,”Sullivan added.

Besides Germany and the Netherlands – Poland, Spain, Greece and Romania are also among European nations that operate the Patriot systems. While Berlin recently promised to supply yet another Patriot battery to Ukraine, Warsaw said earlier this week that it has no air defense systems to spare. 

Spain said it will only provide air defense missiles to Kiev, but not the actual systems. Greece also rejected the pressure, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying that no action would be taken “that could even remotely endanger our nation’s deterrent capabilities or air defense.”

Reuters/RT