Russia Announces Increase In Military Activity In Ukraine: The Kremlin confirmed on Saturday that the Russian military would ramp up its military activity in Ukraine across “all operational areas,” following a widely-reported “operational pause” by Russian troops.
The announcement came as a series of rockets and missiles struck major population centers across Ukraine, including a space rocket planet in Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, Dnipro.
What Is Putin Planning in Ukraine?
According to a statement from the Kremlin, Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu instructed the military to “further intensify the actions of units in all operational areas, in order to exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime launching massive rocket and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of settlements in the Donbas and other regions.”
The statement could indicate an end to the “operational pause,” which Kyiv denied occurred in the first place, and also deflects from the fact that Russian strikes in recent days have caused the deaths of civilians in some of Ukraine’s biggest cities.
In his nightly address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged civilians not to fall for scaremongering efforts, or to believe the warnings of more missile strikes to come.
“Sometimes, information weapons can do more than regular weapons,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president also claimed that it was “clear” that no Russian missiles or artillery “will be able to break our unity or lead us away from our path.”
“And it is also clear that Ukrainian unity cannot be broken by lies or intimidation, fakes or conspiracy theories,” Zelenskyy continued.
His comments came less than a week after he denied that Russia had temporarily paused military operations.
While Zelenskyy insisted that continued missile strikes in Ukraine meant that no such pause ever took place, however, analysts did say earlier this month that the operational pause would not mean that strikes ceased entirely.
News Comes After Dnipro Strike Kills Three Civilians
The news of increased military operations in Ukraine also came less than a day after Russian cruise missiles killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen other civilians in the city of Dnipro.
Video of a Russian cruise missile strike in Dnipro. https://t.co/VDja5Algr4 pic.twitter.com/xcU14Jv4cG
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) July 15, 2022
Ukraine’s fourth-biggest city saw multiple cruise missile strikes on the Yuzmash rocket plant, which Russian officials claimed was being used to manufacture parts for Ukrainian ballistic missiles.
“The rockets hit an industrial plant and a busy street next to it,” regional governor Valentyn Reznychenko said on social media.
Several video clips were shared on social media that showed how the missiles were targeted at the plant – however, one rocket struck a nearby street and resulted in civilian casualties.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
