Ukraine news today, Kiev hits Russia deeply: Putin ready to react

The Russian president announced that he had ordered military leaders to develop “appropriate response measures”, directly accusing Ukraine of knowingly striking a target inhabited by civilians. Kiev, however, rejects the Kremlin’s version: according to the Ukrainian General Staff, the building hit by the drone actually housed the headquarters of the Russian ‘Rubicon’ unit, a structure specialized in drone operations used against Ukrainian infrastructure and cities.

Russian authorities still speak of at least five missing under the rubble. The Ministry of Emergencies in Moscow confirmed that search operations continue unabated.

Attack at 1,700 km

At the same hours Ukraine has intensified raids deep into Russian territory, hitting strategic energy and industrial infrastructures even more than 1,700 kilometers from the border. Fires broke out at a warehouse and an oil terminal in Sheskharis, Novorossiysk, one of the main hubs for Russian crude exports on the Black Sea and part of the Transneft system. About a fifth of Russian oil exports by sea would pass through the terminal.

Other attacks targeted the Akm industrial site in Gubakha, in the Perm region, an important chemical hub that produces ammonia, urea and melamine, substances also considered fundamental for the Russian military supply chain. According to Kiev, the plant supplies factories engaged in the production of drones, missile engines, explosives and aircraft components.

Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the Ukrainian security services for what he called “an in-depth operation against one of the most important enterprises of the Russian military-industrial apparatus.” The Ukrainian president claims that the site’s production has been completely stopped.

Russia drone on funeral in Sumy

Meanwhile, the drone war against civilians continuesthe. In Sumy, north-eastern Ukraine, a Russian drone hit a funeral procession heading towards the cemetery. The toll is one dead and eight injured. Local authorities called the attack “cynical and deliberate.”

Intelligence Tallinn: “Time is not on Putin’s side”

On a strategic level, however, signs of growing difficulty for Moscow are emerging. In an interview with CNN, Estonian intelligence director Kaupo Rosin said that “Time is not on Putin’s side” and that the window for a possible Russian victory would be progressively closing.

According to Rosin, the front is now blocked by a technological war dominated by drones, with Ukraine having significantly improved its ability to intercept modernized Russian Shaheds. Inside the Kremlin, Estonian intelligence still maintains, there would no longer be talk of “total victory”.

Russian losses remain high: according to various Western analyses, Moscow continues to advance very slowly but pays an enormous human cost, with thousands of soldiers killed or wounded every month. To break the stalemate and complete control of Donbass, Russia could be forced into a new mass mobilization of at least 200 thousand men, a choice which – Tallinn warns – would however risk destabilizing the Russian internal front.