As the NATO summit commenced on July 7, Ukraine launched a significant offensive targeting Moscow and supply routes to Crimea. In response, Russia intensified its airstrikes on Kyiv, escalating the conflict between the two nations.
According to reports from AFP and other outlets, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin stated on social media that "more than 430 drones flew toward Moscow from the evening of the previous day until early today." He noted that most of the drones were neutralized at a distance, with 36 drones shot down before reaching Moscow.
In Belgorod, one civilian was killed due to a Ukrainian missile strike. Additionally, two factories related to the military-industrial complex in Russia's Bryansk region were reportedly attacked by Ukraine.
Ukraine also targeted supply routes connecting Crimea and Russian-occupied territories. Ukrainian drone units struck ten vessels in the Sea of Azov, including sanctioned ships. The day before, they had attacked two vessels from a so-called "shadow fleet" operating in the same area to evade international sanctions.
Recently, Ukraine has intensified long-range attacks on Russian energy facilities and supply lines. Just a day prior, Russia's largest oil refinery in Omsk, located about 2,700 kilometers from Ukraine, was attacked.
This offensive by Ukraine is seen as an effort to secure additional support from NATO allies ahead of the summit. Bloomberg reported that Ukraine's long-range missile and drone strikes are aimed at disrupting Russian supply lines and energy facilities, allowing President Volodymyr Zelensky to approach the NATO summit with greater confidence.
However, it is premature to conclude that Ukraine has gained a decisive advantage. Russia continues to exert pressure on the eastern front in Donetsk while maintaining airstrikes on rear cities and civilian infrastructure.
Notably, ahead of the NATO summit, Russia launched large-scale missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, with further missile strikes occurring on July 8. These attacks resulted in fires in two districts of Kyiv and left two people injured, one of whom was hospitalized.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia utilized 68 missiles, including Iskander-M ballistic missiles and Zircon and Onyx cruise missiles, along with 351 attack drones in its assault the previous day. This attack resulted in the deaths of at least 28 civilians in Kyiv.
While Ukrainian forces intercepted a significant number of cruise missiles, they reportedly failed to shoot down any ballistic missiles. The attack led to civilian casualties in Kyiv just five days after a previous large-scale assault that killed 31 people.
Olexandr Kryiev, an analyst at the Kyiv-based think tank Ukraine Prism Foreign Policy Association, told Deutsche Welle (DW), "Putin aims to intimidate Europe and NATO allies, hoping they will eventually deem support for Ukraine pointless."
Ivan Usdov from the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies also told DW that the recent airstrikes send a message ahead of the NATO summit. He explained that President Putin seeks to portray Russia as a formidable nation that should be feared, indicating that NATO support for Ukraine could lead to attacks on civilian infrastructure.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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