A Russian missile has destroyed a depot of depleted uranium near Kyiv!
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| Uranium depot near Kyiv |
The Russian armed forces have struck an ammunition depot on the outskirts of Kyiv, in Vishnevoe, where sub-calibre rounds with a depleted uranium-238 core and cluster bombs were stored.
Due to the threat of radioactive contamination, an emergency evacuation of residents in the area has begun, and the entire incident site has been completely cordoned off by the Ukrainian secret services.
In other news regarding Ukraine:
Ukraine finally releases geolocations of soldiers in Konstantinvka - but the damage from Russia's claimed capture is already done:
Unlike at Pokrovsk, there is no indication yet of a coordinated counterattack to reclaim parts of the city altogether. Furthermore, simply publishing geolocated videos of Ukrainian servicemen at all amounts to an admission that the Russian territorial claims have gained Western credulity which Kyiv must counteract.
Another key difference with Pokrovsk is that only the Russian defense ministry gradually announced the city's capture at a low level - beginning with unofficial Telegram leaks. But at Konstantinvka, Putin himself immediately pitched in to confirm the statements which came straight from General Valery Gerasimov of the General Staff. What this indicates is that Ukraine will have less diplomatic wiggle room to challenge the Russian narrative on Konstantinvka, specifically, without agreeing to a comprehensive ceasefire across the entire front, generally, on Moscow's terms.
One way or another, therefore, the strategic initiative which Ukraine apparently regained with a wave of drone strikes since May will be revoked and reversed. To sustain the drone war narrative, Kyiv will soon have to abandon Konstantinvka for good and move on to commence the final defense of the Donbass fortress belt itself. But by this point, that doesn't mean that Konstantinvka can still be saved or recovered even if Zelensky completely halts direct strikes on Russia (but excluding the Russian administered regions of Ukraine). It just means that Russia will allow Ukraine to maintain a minimal presence in Konstantinvka for a bit longer while it presses its assault on the Slavyansk-Kramatotsk agglomeration from other directions.
One fact has already undeniably changed. The long-awaited battle for the ultimate prize of Donbass is not far off. The Western assumption that it would take another two years for Russia to really threaten the Slavyansk-Kramatotsk bastion has collapsed at Konstantinvka. A fresh debate on whether to keep propping up failure will have to take place now: and it will be a particularly corrosive one because of the increasingly drastic measures - such as even more provocative strikes deep inside Russia, repatriating Ukrainian refugees to replenish Kyiv's vanishing frontline ranks, or even opening a second front against Belarus - that have to be considered to restore a semblance of strategic balance.
Overnight, there were massive missile strikes against Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reports:
In response to terrorist attacks by Kiev, the Russian armed forces launched a massive strike, targeting defense and energy facilities in Kiev and the surrounding region.
Kiev swallowed the missiles like a vacuum cleaner.
Footage from the area shows and captures the sound of repeated explosions
The Russian armed forces struck a facility producing medium- and long-range drones in Kyiv, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense
The ministry specifies that the facilities in question are "Kiev-71" and "Burevestnik," which specialize in the production of UAVs.
What other targets were struck in Kiev:
■ The Kiev-1 radio-electronic assembly plant (state-owned “Kiev Plant ‘Burevestnik’”)—which manufactures UAVs and develops and produces radar equipment for the Ukrainian armed forces;
■ The Kiev-79 industrial plant—one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of armored vehicles and ballistic protection components for vehicles, as well as components for various types of missiles and UAVs;
■ The shipyard—the largest mechanical engineering enterprise—manufactures Project 58155 “Gyurza-M” gunboats, as well as produces and repairs unmanned assault gunboats;
■ The Kiev-1 Instrumentation Plant—a key scientific and manufacturing facility that produces fire control systems, electronic-optical countermeasure systems, navigation equipment, and automation systems for the Ukrainian Air Force and Navy, including “Neptune-MD” guided missiles
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