Ukraine drone strikes target Vladimir Putin's explosives factories as Russia hits Kharkiv

THE STANDARD: Ukrainian drones targeted ethanol plants in southern Russia as part of a campaign to hit Vladimir Putin’s war machine, according to reports.

The strikes were launched at factories in the region of Voronezh.

The regional governor Alexander Gusev said the strikes injured two people, sparked a fire and damaged two industrial enterprises.

Firefighters doused the fire in the region’s Anninsky district.

Ethanol is used for making explosives.

About 10 Ukrainian drones were destroyed or intercepted over the region late on Sunday, he added, with debris damaging several buildings in the district, as well as in the Novokhopersky district.

The Russian defence ministry said only one Ukrainian drone was destroyed over the Voronezh region, however, from a total of 21 downed over its territory overnight.

Explosions were heard near an ethanol spirit plant in the village of Krasnoye in the Novokhopersky district, said the Baza news channel.

Several people were injured overnight in Russia’s multi-wave air attacks on the Ukrainian northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian military officials said early on Monday.

Two people were hospitalised late on Sunday after Russia hit the city of Kharkiv with precision guided bombs and damaged several residential buildings, the city’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Four more people suffered various injuries in the Kharkiv region later in the night after Russia launched more attacks, said regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Britain has led the West in arming Ukraine against Putin’s invasion launched in February 2022.

The UK first supplied anti-tank weapons, then Challenger II tanks and long-range Storm Shadow missiles.

Politicians in the UK are largely united in their support for Ukraine.

Shadow foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell has just returned from a visit to Ukraine where he met Foreign Minister Perebyinis Yevhen in Kyiv, as well as other senior politicians.

He stressed: “All parties across our Parliament stand firmly with Ukraine. Their fight is our fight, because if Putin succeeds, he will not stop there.

“In spite of the horrors they have suffered, which I saw starkly demonstrated, the determination of all Ukraine’s society to defeat Russia’s war machine never falters.”

On the ground, Russian forces are gradually seizing more territory in the eastern Donbas region, but are reportedly suffering heavy losses as they advance.