By Spy Uganda Correspondent
Russia’s military said it had carried out a “massive strike” with missiles and drones on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and that it had blocked rail and land routes used to deliver Western weaponry to Ukrainian forces, while Kyiv said its military had inflicted heavy casualties on Moscow’s invasion force as battles raged in the east of the country.
“The Russian armed forces launched a massive attack on energy facilities critical to the operations of the Ukrainian defense and transport industry,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on February 11, without providing details. “All the targeted objects were hit.”
Ukrainian authorities earlier reported power cuts in many cities and towns, but the military also said 61 of the more than 100 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces had been shot down and that more than 1,100 Russian soldiers had been killed in fighting during the past 24 hours.
Battlefield reports are difficult to independently verify, but Russian military officials and others are increasingly acknowledging heavy casualty levels in the war as the one-year anniversary of the invasion approaches.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, admitted that Russian forces were facing strong resistance from the Ukrainian military in the strategically important eastern city of Bakhmut.
Prigozhin’s published remarks on February 10 came as Ukrainian officials said a long-anticipated Russian offensive was under way in the east.
Kyiv has been expecting a new Russian military offensive, convinced that after months of setbacks Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to highlight battlefield success before the anniversary of his unprovoked invasion on February 24.
Putin is scheduled to deliver his delayed annual address to parliament on February 21.
