{"id":19915,"date":"2024-04-06T11:59:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T11:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/06\/russia-pounds-kharkiv-in-deadly-barrage-straining-ukraines-defenses\/"},"modified":"2024-04-06T11:59:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T11:59:01","slug":"russia-pounds-kharkiv-in-deadly-barrage-straining-ukraines-defenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/06\/russia-pounds-kharkiv-in-deadly-barrage-straining-ukraines-defenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia Pounds Kharkiv in Deadly Barrage, Straining Ukraine\u2019s Defenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/06\/multimedia\/06ukraine-kharkiv-01-pbzk\/06ukraine-kharkiv-01-pbzk-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Russia Pounds Kharkiv in Deadly Barrage, Straining Ukraine\u2019s Defenses\" title=\"Russia Pounds Kharkiv in Deadly Barrage, Straining Ukraine\u2019s Defenses\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russian rockets slammed into residential buildings in Kharkiv before dawn on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least six people and injuring at least 11 more in the latest assault on Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cRussian terror against Kharkiv continues,\u201d President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s crucial to strengthen the air defense for the Kharkiv region. And our partners can help us with this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ukraine\u2019s air defenses have come increasingly under strain since American military support stopped flowing into the country more than six months ago, and future assistance remains uncertain amid <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/13\/us\/politics\/ukraine-aid-bill-house.html\" title=\"\">Republican resistance in Congress to a $60 billion aid package<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, has hinted that he would soon bring <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/01\/us\/politics\/mike-johnson-ukraine-aid.html\" title=\"\">the issue of military aid for Ukraine<\/a> to a vote in the House, but has also said that he might tie the issue to unrelated matters like domestic energy policies that could complicate its passage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At the same time, Russia has replenished and expanded its stockpile of missiles, guided bombs and attack drones and is stepping up its bombardments across the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky said this past week that \u201cin March alone, Russian terrorists used over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Shahed drones and over 3,000 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Kharkiv, second in population only to Ukraine\u2019s capital, Kyiv, and only about 25 miles from the Russian border, has been particularly hard hit. Russian forces <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2022\/world\/europe\/ukraine-maps.html\" title=\"\">tried and failed to encircle and capture the city<\/a> in the first months of the war, which began in February 2022, and they were driven out of most of the Kharkiv region during <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/10\/world\/europe\/ukraine-offensive-izium-donbas.html\" title=\"\">Kyiv\u2019s counteroffensive<\/a> that fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Russia has stepped up its aerial bombardments of Kharkiv, it has for the first time deployed powerful guided bombs to hit the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The use of the modified bombs represents a new and potentially deadly development against which Ukraine has little defense, Ukrainian officials and military analysts said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There are a number of variations of the weapons, known as glide bombs, but essentially they are powerful gravity bombs modified with a set of wings and guidance systems to allow them to be dropped by fighter-bombers out of the range of Ukrainian air-defense systems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More than 20,000 buildings have been destroyed in Kharkiv since Russia <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/news-event\/ukraine-russia\" title=\"\">launched its full-scale invasion<\/a>. Ukrainian government officials estimate that it will cost more than $10 billion to rebuild everything that has already been destroyed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPractically all critical energy infrastructure in Kharkiv is destroyed, and private infrastructure is also shattered,\u201d Ihor Terekhov, the city\u2019s mayor, said this past week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMore than 150,000 residents of Kharkiv are left homeless,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the most recent overnight attack, Russia hit residential neighborhoods with a barrage of S-300 missiles, which were fired from Russian territory and can reach Kharkiv in under a minute, Ukrainian officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nine residential buildings, a kindergarten, a cafe and a gas station were among the buildings damaged, Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv military administration, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The attack came less than 48 hours after Russian drone strikes in Kharkiv on Thursday killed four civilians, including three emergency workers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The bombardments have coincided with a propaganda campaign by the Kremlin aimed at stoking panic in the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cRussian propaganda is spreading fake messages among Kharkiv residents, allegedly from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, about the possible encirclement of Kharkiv in the near future with recommendations to leave the city,\u201d the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis information is not true,\u201d the agency said. \u201cThe enemy does not currently have the resources to surround or capture Kharkiv.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Despite the daily attacks and blackouts, there has been no major exodus from the city, which has a population of 1.3 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent months, Russia has leveraged air superiority to make tactical gains on the front. For instance, it has used hundreds of guided bombs to obliterate Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka before seizing the longtime stronghold in eastern Ukraine this year. Moscow appears to be seeking to replicate that strategy to weaken other Ukrainian fortifications across the front.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russia has also been working to increase the distance such bombs can fly, according to Ukrainian officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The guided bombs used to target Kharkiv recently \u2014 which have been identified by Ukrainian officials as air-to-surface missiles \u2014 have been designed to travel more than 55 miles, allowing Russian warplanes to launch them with relative impunity from inside Russia, Ukrainian officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Once the bombs are unleashed, there is little Ukraine can do to shoot them out of the sky, so Kyiv is trying to find other ways to counter the threat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As part of that effort, Ukraine on Friday launched a complex drone assault targeting Russian warplanes at multiple airfields across Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A senior Ukrainian security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss continuing military operations, said that the drone assaults had destroyed at least six military aircraft and significantly damaged another eight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry claimed that its air defenses had intercepted more than 50 drones aimed at targets across the country and made no mention of damage to planes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was not possible to immediately verify the claims by either side, and there was no independent visual confirmation after the attack that would allow military analysts to assess the damage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">However, the scale of the Ukrainian operation would be significant, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cUkraine\u2019s ability to strike four separate air bases in one strike series represents a notable inflection in the capabilities that Ukrainian forces are employing in their campaign against Russian military infrastructure, critical infrastructure, and strategic industries within Russia,\u201d the analysts wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Anastasia Kuznietsova<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/06\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-kharkiv-glide-bombs.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russian rockets slammed into residential buildings in Kharkiv before dawn on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least six people and injuring at least 11 more in the latest assault on Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city. \u201cRussian terror against Kharkiv continues,\u201d President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s crucial to strengthen the air defense [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/06\/multimedia\/06ukraine-kharkiv-01-pbzk\/06ukraine-kharkiv-01-pbzk-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25437,11100,25439,25346,58,202,25438,11626],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19915"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19917,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19915\/revisions\/19917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}