فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised on Sunday even more “destruction” to Ukraine following a drone attack the day before, which Moscow attributes to Kyiv, against buildings in Kazan, a city in central Russia far from the front lines.
“Anyone who tries to destroy something in our country, no matter how small, will face even greater destruction in their own country and will regret what they tried to do in our country,” he declared during an official ceremony, commenting on Saturday’s strike about 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The attack targeted residential buildings in Kazan, without causing any casualties, according to local authorities.
Impressive images, which circulated on Russian social networks, showed drones hitting tall glass buildings in a ball of fire.
Ukraine has not commented on this operation, nor on the Russian accusations.
The country regularly carries out strikes in Russia, often against industrial targets, particularly oil facilities, in response to Russian air attacks and the Kremlin’s assault on its territory nearly three years ago.
It is rarer for Ukraine to be accused of attacking residential buildings so far from its borders.
In recent weeks, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with the new and powerful “Oreshnik” missile, used for the first time in November.
The almost continuous Russian aerial bombardments have brought the Ukrainian energy system to its knees, causing regular power cuts in the middle of winter.
Acceleration on the front
On the front, the Russian army is advancing rapidly, particularly in the eastern region of Donetsk, the hot spot of the fighting.
It has thus conquered two new villages, those of Lozova, in the Kharkiv region (northeast), and Sontsivka, in the Donetsk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday.
Sontsivka is close to the industrial city of Kurakhove, which the Russian army has almost encircled and which constitutes one of the key sectors of the fighting.
Russia has accelerated its advance in eastern Ukraine in recent months, seeking to gain as much territory as possible before the elected US President Donald Trump takes office in January.
He has promised to quickly end this conflict, without ever really explaining how he intends to proceed.
The uncertainty surrounding this plan is enough to give Ukraine cold sweats, which, given its current military difficulties, fears being forced into an unfavorable agreement.
Accusations
Russian troops claim to have captured more than 190 Ukrainian localities this year. On the other side, Kyiv is striving to contain them, despite the shortage of manpower and ammunition.
Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets accused Russian soldiers on Sunday of shooting dead five Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered.
“Russian war criminals who kill Ukrainian prisoners of war must be brought before an international court and suffer the most severe penalties provided by law,” he wrote on Telegram.
He added that he would inform the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Dmytro Lubinets cited as evidence a video, released by a Ukrainian brigade and presented as showing Russian soldiers shooting captured Ukrainian soldiers. Its authenticity, like the place where it was filmed, could not be verified by AFP.
Ukraine and Russia have mutually accused each other of murdering prisoners of war since the beginning of the war.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights states that it has “documented numerous violations of international humanitarian law against prisoners of war, including cases of summary executions of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war.”
