Russia sent to the Black Sea 4 warships equipped with 40 Caliber cruise missiles, took off 5 Tu-95 strategic bombers with 30 cruise missiles and two Tu-22M3 long-range bombers.
Russian military presence in the Black Sea is increasing, which may indicate Moscow's desire to ensure the protection of its borders and interests in the region. At the same time, the Ukrainians express fears of a possible massive blow from Russia.
Loud explosions rocked Kiev last night, prompting the activation of air defense systems.
Russian forces have launched another massive strike against Ukraine, using Tu-95 strategic jets from the Caspian Sea, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Anti-aircraft missile units of the Ukrainian Air Force along with air defense destroyed 21 of the 23 X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles and two drones.
In Kyiv, local power lines in the Obolonsky district were damaged by the attack, as well as road infrastructure. No civilian casualties or damage to residential buildings in the city have been reported.
"Twenty-one of the 23 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, as well as two UAVs of the operational-tactical level, were destroyed by the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force of Ukraine, in cooperation with the air defense systems and other elements of our defense forces," said Valery Zalousi, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Russian forces last attacked Kiev on March 9, in a massive attack with cruise missiles and drones.
We remind you that, since October 10, an air strike alert has been announced daily throughout Ukraine, in connection with the strikes of the Russian army on objects of the country's defense industry, military administration, communications and energy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said these actions were in response to the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge and other attacks on civilian infrastructure in Russia.
Poland provides a factory for Ukraine tanks
Polish Minister of Defense Mariusz Blazak announced that the Leopard 2 Tank Repair Center for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be established at the Zakłady Mechaniczne Bumar Łabędy SA plant in Gliwice and this center should be operational as early as May 2023 At the premises of this enterprise, they plan to repair not only the "older" Leopard 2A4, but also the newer Leopard 2A6 and tanks of other modifications.
At the same time, Blazak admitted that there are some problems with obtaining parts for the repair of Leopards from Germany, which also acted as a partner in the creation of this Center, and called on Berlin to speed up the resolution of this issue.
From a formal point of view, the Bumar-Labedy plant was chosen because this enterprise has 20 years of experience in servicing the Leopard 2 in the Polish Army and is only one of two plants in Poland capable of repairing tanks of this type. type. But in fact, as reported by Defense24 , the story of the selection of the Bumar-Labedy plant as the Leopard 2 Center for the AFU seems much more interesting.
Initially, the Bumar-Labedy facility carried out and is carrying out repairs of T-72M tanks from the Polish Army, which are then transferred to Ukraine as part of military aid. Also, in this operation, the T-64 tanks of Ukraine will be repaired, which can be modernized or modified according to the model of the T-72 tanks.
But the most interesting thing is that, the Minister of Defense of Poland also announced that, a new production line for Krab self-propelled guns will be started at the Bumar-Labedy factory. It is not revealed who will be the recipient of these SPGs, but it is speculated that it will be either Poland or Ukraine, under previously concluded contracts.
But the fact that, Poland has focused on the repair and modernization of tanks of all types of AFU and is likely to produce new Krab self-propelled guns for Ukraine, looks at least interesting.
