Ukraine annihilates Russia’s Lipetsk airfield as Kursk attack progresses

An early morning kamikaze drone attack on a Russian airfield nearly 200 miles from the Ukrainian border at Lipetsk is reported to have inflicted significant damage. Authorities downplayed the strike as “detonations at an energy facility”, but leaked videos from Russian social media tell a different story. Numerous clips show a massive fireball engulfing the airbase as residents film wide-eyed in disbelief.

The explosion is consistent with a hit on an ammunition depot, indicating that Ukraine has potentially neutralised thousands of Russian missiles, bombs, and possibly several fighter aircraft as well. Four nearby villages were ordered to evacuate as bits or ordnance rained down over the area. 

Ukraine’s jubilation was short-lived however, as a Russian glide-bomb attack midday killed at least fourteen civilians and wounded dozens more at a supermarket in Donetsk’s Kostiantynivka. Graphic footage from the attack depicts harrowing injuries, blood-soaked pavement, and rescuers rushing to save those trapped under the rubble. The egregious bombing demonstrates a growing malicious negligence from the Russian side, who’ve killed more Ukrainian civilians in the last month than in any other since 2022. 

Amid news of today’s tragic strike, Ukraine acknowledged its Kursk military offensive in which its forces have made unprecedented advances into Russia’s territory over the last four days. In the surprise attack, Ukraine has captured an estimated one hundred square miles of Russian territory, dozens of troops, and has destroyed several convoys. 

Zelensky justified the incursion, saying, “Russia brought the war to our land and should feel what it has done.” Officials from the Pentagon and White House affirmed that the offensive, which utilises many US-provided weapons, is “consistent with US policy”.

The unexpected raid has undoubtedly left Russia shaken as a federal emergency was declared for the Kursk region and Putin convened an urgent national security meeting to assess the matter.

Many analysts are claiming the offensive, even if it is repelled in the coming days, serves as a major victory for Ukraine as Russia has lost entire convoys, been forced to redirect its forces, and had to evacuate thousands of its citizens in humiliation. 

However, others experts are less convinced, attesting that the incursion is simply a Ukrainian gambit to redirect attention from their faltering Donetsk front. On this line of contact, Russia has been steadily gaining ground since the fall of Avdiivka – a front-line city Ukraine valiantly defended for a decade before its capitulation in February – and is now inching closer to severing a vital supply line in Pokrovsk.

If Ukraine’s crucial lines of defence in Donetsk fall, the Russians could advance at a pace not seen since the war’s inception. 

With F-16s inbound and Russian forces retreating on their own territory, the war has undoubtedly entered a new phase. However, the slow, deliberate march of Russia in the East could spell disaster for Ukraine’s war effort in coming months, eliminating their Kursk morale gains along with any prospect for Ukrainian sovereignty.

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