Ukraine: Russia ‘destroys Western arms caches’

Russia claims it destroyed a large shipment of western weapons sent to the Ukrainian army.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow said it was targeting a deal in the west of the country by firing cruise missiles from the Black Sea.

A statement claimed to have struck a “large batch of weapons and military equipment shipped from the US and European countries.”

Russia also says its bombs hit oil depots near Odessa, shooting down two warplanes and 14 drones.

It’s unclear how much truth there is in Russian claims, but invading forces are stepping up efforts to conquer eastern Ukraine after capturing Mariupol.

The last fighters were ordered by their commanders to lay down their arms after months of defense ended in a brutal siege of the Azovstal Steelworks.

Kremlin troops continue to attempt a major offensive to capture the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, his troops are digging in north of Kharkiv, despite successful Ukrainian counterattacks pushing them back.

Russian generals focus their efforts on advancing around Severodonetsk, a strategically located city.

There are fears that it could become another Mariupol, using heavy shells to drive out defense forces and destroy civilian infrastructure in the process.

Moscow says Western supplies of arms to Kyiv and imposition of drastic sanctions on Russia’s economy are a West “proxy war”.

News of the arms shipment attack comes after US President Joe Biden confirmed a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has announced that she is working on a plan to bring arms to Moldova, which borders Ukraine and like its neighbor contains a region controlled by Russian separatists.

She said she wanted a state exposed to Vladimir Putin’s expansionist bid to have “NATO-standard” weapons at its disposal.

Ms Truss told The Telegraph: “How do we ensure that there is deterrence by denial that Ukraine is persistently capable of defending itself and how do we guarantee that this happens? We are working on that at the moment.

“And the same goes for other vulnerable states like Moldova. Again, since the threat is from Russia, we also need to make sure they are equipped to NATO standards.”

When asked if she would like Moldova to be supplied with Western weapons and intelligence services, Ms. Truss said: “I want Moldova to be equipped to NATO standards. This is a discussion we are having with our allies.’

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