Kharkiv, Ukraine – A Russian glider bomb crashed into an apartment building overnight Ukraine‘s second largest city Kharkiv, injured 12 people including a 3-year-old girl, according to local officials. The outskirts of Kharkiv are only about 12 miles from the front lines where Ukrainian forces are struggling to resist the Russian offensive, and have been the target of airstrikes since the invasion began on February 24, 2022.
Ukraine and Russia have been trading regular drone and missile strikes on the front lines, and the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 78 of 105 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight over 15 countries. The Russian military says it intercepted 113 Ukrainian drones overnight.
In recent months, Russia has increased its use of cruise bombs, and it is making a difference in the war. The weapons are made using Soviet-era munitions — some of which carry more than a ton of explosives — mounted on wings and satellite guidance systems. They are cheap to produce and very destructive.
Yevhen Titov/AP
CBS News visited a Ukrainian Border Guard detachment tasked with scouring the skies for Russian planes that dropped cruise bombs, and then alerting communities in the line of fire.
Colonel Maksym Balagura, who commanded the unit, told CBS News that every soldier feared for his own life when he received the signal that a grenade launcher had been planted.
“You can’t underestimate the enemy,” he said, acknowledging that the tactics used by Russian forces have become more sophisticated as the war drags on into its third year.
Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Russia / AP
Russia now controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory – a vast area in the eastern Donbas region, and according to some estimates, President Vladimir Putin’s forces are increasing faster than at any time since the early stages of the war.
In February, Ukrainian troops retreat from the main eastern town of Avdiivka after being besieged for several months by Russian forces. This week, the town of Vuhledar fell under Russian control after two years of war. Pro-Kremlin media has posted a video showing Russian soldiers raising a flag on top of a bombed two-story building. Russian forces are also approaching the city of Pokrovsk, Ukraine’s logistics hub in the east of the country.
More than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the invasion, according to US officials, although neither Ukrainian nor Russian officials have confirmed casualty figures. Despite the losses, Putin seems keen to build on his gains, and the Russian military plans to deploy more than 130,000 additional soldiers in January.
Ukraine relies heavily on weapons and other equipment provided by the US and its NATO allies to ensure it can continue its fight against Russia, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for permission to use Western-made weapons. attack inside Russian territory.
He has made it clear that without additional support and the ability to target Russian weapons storage and launch facilities, Russia can accelerate its seizure of Ukrainian land and continue west into the country – to the border with NATO member Poland.
Zelenskyi have been warned for years, even before the full-scale Russian invasion, that Putin’s war in Ukraine could grow into a war with NATO.
“This aggression, and Putin’s army, can come to Europe, and then the citizens of the United States, the soldiers of the United States, have to protect Europe because they are members of NATO,” he told CBS News in March. repeat the warning.
Calls continue for greater support amid uncertainty Continued support from the United Stateswith former President Donald Trump vying for re-election in November. Trump has said Many times, if re-elected, he could end the war in Ukraine “very quickly,” but he never pushed Ukraine to accept an agreement that would allow Russia to hold onto some Ukrainian-controlled territory.
In an effort to show continued support, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, former prime minister of the Netherlands, visited Kyiv on Thursday. He pledged to “reinforce support for Ukraine and bring it closer” to the transatlantic defense alliance.
“Putin must understand that we will not give up, that we want Ukraine to win in the end,” Rutte said.
But as Russia adapts its tactics and inches towards Ukraine, Zelenskyy realizes that promises from NATO leaders alone will not guarantee victory for his country.
Tucker Reals contributed to this report.
Holly Williams
