Russia reported on Monday that its forces had attacked several Ukrainian targets and shut down a warplane in the past 24 hours, while Ukraine claimed that its army had repelled Russian offensives in different directions, according to their latest updates on the conflict.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily battlefield report that the Russian army had hit Ukrainian targets including a drone production workshop and warehouse, as well as the infrastructure of a military airport.
The Russian air defense systems shot down one MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force and intercepted aerial bombs, rockets and drones, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Russian forces took control of two settlements in the Kursk region and continued to destroy fronts of the Ukrainian army, according to the report.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that as of Monday afternoon, its soldiers continued to engage the Russian army in different directions and repelled multiple attacks.
The most intense fighting was in the direction of Kurakhove, said the report.
The Ukrainian Air Force issued an alert in the early morning of Monday against a risk of missile attack in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkov of Ukraine, as well as a risk of drone attack in many places.
The city of Kyiv and the Kyiv Regional Military Administration both sounded air raid sirens in the early hours of Monday, with the latter saying that its air defense systems were repelling enemy drones. The Russian side has not made any responses to Ukraine's claim.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a decree to increase the number of Russian armed forces to 2,389,130 units, including 1.5 million military personnel.
The decree also requires the Government of the Russian Federation to allocate funds to the Ministry of Defense through the federal budget.
In December 2023, the armed forces of the Russian Federation numbered 2,209,130, including 1.32 million military personnel.
Recently, Ukraine has repeatedly asked the United States and other Western countries to lift restrictions on its use of Western-supplied weapons to remotely attack targets deep inside Russia. The United States and Britain have responded by taking frequent actions and gradually showing a sign of backing off from their stand. However, there is no consensus among Western countries on this issue.
The U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a meeting at the White House on Sept 13 to discuss whether to allow Ukraine to deploy British cruise missiles "Storm Shadows" backed by U.S. navigational data to conduct long-range strikes inside Russian territory. But the two sides made no decision at the time.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Monday that such discussions were only "formalizing" Washingtons involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, adding that U.S. experts and military personnel have already intervened in the conflict without obtaining the so-called authorization.
In an interview broadcast by CNN on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has been trying to persuade the U.S. government to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia, but no such authorization has been granted so far.
Bloomberg News reported on the same day that Starmer would meet with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni on Monday to discuss the proposal to allow Ukraine to use "Storm Shadow" against Russian territory, and British officials would also consult with French and German officials in the coming days.
According to the British Times on Saturday, five former British defense ministers, including Grant Shapps and Ben Wallace, and former British Prime Minister Johnson Boris recently urged Starmer to authorize Ukraine's use of "Storm Shadow" to strike targets deep in Russia, even without the support of the United States. Shapps said it is how his country "takes the lead in supporting Ukraine globally".
However, there is still opposition in the West over this issue. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that in order to prevent further escalation of the situation between Russia and Ukraine, Germany will not provide Ukraine with long-range weapons to attack the Russian territory, and he also refused to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. He stated that he would stand by his position even if other countries decided otherwise.
Putin warned recently that by providing Ukraine with long-range weapons, Western countries risk involving directly in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He said this would "significantly change the essence of the conflict", and Russia would take "appropriate decisions" based on the new threats.
Russia, Ukraine update battle reports as West dithers over providing Ukraine with long-range weapons
