kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — A massive Ukrainian drone strike set fire to a Russian weapons depot deep inside the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said before his closing remarks. visit to the White House that kyiv’s multi-point “victory plan” requires rapid action by the United States.
Ukraine launched more than 100 drones toward Russia and occupied Crimea on Saturday night, Russian media and the Defense Ministry reported. The depot appears to be located a few kilometers from another one that was struck by Ukrainian drones early Wednesday, injuring 13 people and also causing a huge fire.
The “victory plan” that Zelensky will present to President Joe Biden will include long range strike capabilities and other weapons long sought by kyiv, and will serve as the basis for any future negotiations with Russia, Zelenskyy told reporters ahead of next week’s trip.
Zelenskyy reveals few details
Zelensky has regularly hinted at the plan’s preparation but has not publicly outlined its contents, saying only that it contains acceptable terms for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia after two and a half years of war following Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
“This will be the beginning and the basis for discussions in any format with Russia. In any format, with any of its representatives, because there will be a plan and something to show,” Zelensky said at a press briefing on Friday.
Zelensky said he would present the plan to Biden and Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He also said he planned to meet with Harris’ opponent in the November election, former President Donald Trump.
He said the United States has so far been reluctant to allow Ukraine to use Western resources. weapons to strike deep into Russia This situation stems from fears of escalation by Moscow, a major nuclear power in the world. Ukraine has had to use its own capabilities to carry out strikes on Russian territory.
“I think that Biden is receiving information from his entourage today that there could be an escalation. But, and this is important, not everyone around him thinks so. And it is already an achievement that not everyone around him thinks so,” Zelensky said.
But the longer Western partners wait to authorize the use of long-range missiles, the more tactically obsolete their value will become, Zelenskyy said.
Boy killed, Russian warehouses set on fire
A 12-year-old boy and two elderly women were killed when Russian missiles struck Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Thursday night, local governor Serhii Lysak said on Saturday.
Lysak said the missiles struck “in the middle of the night, while the city was sleeping,” injuring three other people, destroying two buildings and damaging 20 others.
Russian authorities temporarily closed a 100-kilometer stretch of highway on Saturday and evacuated passengers from a nearby train station after the fire triggered a series of explosions. Messages on local Telegram channels on the messaging app said a missile depot was hit near the town of Toropets in Russia’s Tver region, about 380 kilometers northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The highway was reopened a few hours later.
Unverified footage circulating on Telegram showed a large fireball rising into the night sky and dozens of smoke trails from the detonations.
An ammunition depot and missile arsenal in southwestern Russia also caught fire Saturday in the Krasnodar region, triggering evacuations after the blaze caused a series of explosions. Videos on social media showed bright orange clouds rising on the horizon, while dull blasts echoed almost continuously.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday morning that its forces had shot down 101 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory and occupied Crimea. No casualties were immediately reported in either Russian region.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine on https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
