Russia hits Ukrainian homes, infrastructure as Putin visits Iran
Al JazeeraRussian missiles have struck cities and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine, hitting homes, a school and a community centre as Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Iran to discuss a United Nations-backed proposal to unblock exports of Ukrainian grain. In Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province that is considered a likely occupation target of Russian forces, one person was killed in an air raid on Monday that hit a five-story residential building, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in televised comments. Peace on Russia’s ‘terms’ The missile attacks came as the British military said it believes Russia is facing “increasingly acute” problems in keeping up its troop strength in its grinding war of attrition that began with the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. The British defence ministry said in a Tuesday morning assessment that Russia “has struggled to sustain effective offensive combat power since the start of the invasion, and this problem is likely becoming increasingly acute” as Moscow seeks to conquer the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The British military added, “While Russia may still make further territorial gains, their operational tempo and rate of advance is likely to be very slow without a significant operational pause for reorganisation and refit.” More than two weeks have passed since Russia’s last major territorial gain – capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk – and Ukraine’s General Army Staff said on Tuesday that Moscow’s forces were busy shoring up their positions in recently seized territory and mounting limited but unsuccessful ground assaults, albeit in numerous different locations.