Russia says Western weapons shipped to Ukraine hit by missiles
Russia says its missiles hit an arms depot in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye.
A large quantity of weapons and ammunition shipped to Kiev by Western countries was destroyed in southeastern Ukraine on Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said.
A military warehouse on the territory of the Zaporozhye industrial aluminum plant was hit by Kalibr missiles fired from Russian Navy vessels in the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian army and the US and European countries have supplied a large amount of foreign weapons and ammunition, according to the ministry.
Russian warplanes hit 59 Ukrainian military targets overnight, while artillery fired 573 strikes against Kiev forces, 18 drones were also shot down, it added.
Moscow has announced the destruction of six railway hubs in western Ukraine, saying they were used to deliver foreign weapons and military hardware to the Ukrainian forces. Russia has warned the US and its allies in the UK and EU not to send lethal aid to Ukraine, because it said it only destabilizes the situation and hampers the prospects of peace.
Russia s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated on Tuesday that these weapons will be a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces. Warehouses, including in the west of Ukraine, have become a target of this kind of activity. NATO is going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy. NATO members, who have already been armed with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems, armored vehicles, howitzers, and other weapons, are showing no signs of backing down.
On Monday, the US said it held a 40-country meeting at its Ramstein Airbase in Germany to discuss how to assist Kiev in its conflict with Moscow. During the event, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington would keep moving heaven and earth so that we can meet the military needs of the Ukrainian government, while urging other countries to contribute to the cause.
A day before that, Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Kiev to personally assure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Western support.
In late February, Russia attacked its neighbor after Ukraine refused to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow's eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine declare itself a neutral country and provide guarantees that it will not join NATO. Ukraine views the Russian offensive as an unprovoked act of war and denies it plans to retake the two republics by force.