(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ukraine Invasion Day 853: game of drones [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-24 Current US policy regarding Ukraine's use of Western-provided weapons allows Ukraine to strike anywhere within Russian-occupied Ukraine, which presumably includes using long-range ATACMS to strike the portion of the Kerch Strait Bridge within Ukraine's internationally recognized land and maritime borders. ISW assesses that 13 kilometers of the Kerch Strait Bridge — which Russian authorities built without Ukraine's approval following Russia's illegal occupation of the peninsula in 2014 — are within Ukraine's internationally recognized territorial waters. The US policy on the Ukrainian ATACMS use, therefore, technically should allow Ukrainian forces to strike at least a section of the bridge if not the entire bridge. Pentagon Spokesperson Major Charlie Dietz also notably stated on June 24 that “Ukraine makes its own targeting decisions and conducts its own military operations."[8] Then–US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert stated on May 15, 2018, that the US condemns Russia's construction and partial opening of the Kerch Strait Bridge, that the bridge "serves as a reminder of Russia’s ongoing willingness to flout international law," and represents Russia's attempt to "solidify its unlawful seizure and its occupation of Crimea."[9] understandingwar.org/... Russian forces conducted a limited series of missile strikes against Ukraine on June 24. Donetsk Oblast Head Vadym Filashkin stated on June 24 that Russian forces struck Pokrovsk with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles, destroying and damaging residential houses.[78] Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces launched two cruise missiles, likely Iskander-K missiles, against Odesa Oblast and that Ukrainian forces shot down one of the missiles.[79] Russian forces reportedly struck civil infrastructure and a warehouse in Odesa City.[80] Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration Head Oleh Synehubov stated that Russian forces conducted a guided glide bomb strike on Kharkiv City on the afternoon of June 24 and struck an educational institution.[81] understandingwar.org/... Russian guided bombs shattered an apartment building in Ukraine’s Kharkiv on Saturday, killing three people and injuring 52, Ukrainian officials said. Two people were injured and scores of residential and other buildings damaged in a Russian missile attack on the Kyiv region overnight, Ukraine’s authorities said. Ukraine launched at least 30 drones overnight, targeting Russia’s western region of Bryansk with no reported damage, Russian officials said. Russia’s air defence systems destroyed a number of drones over the Smolensk region, said Vasily Anokhin, governor of the region in Russia’s west. Russian-installed officials said Ukrainian attack drones also struck Enerhodar, a town near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, wounding one person. Russia’s Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev reportedly said his country’s athletes – mostly barred from the Paris Olympics – will soon take part in more competitions since international fixtures suffer from their absence, according to the Interfax news agency. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a claim by far-right leader Nigel Farage that the West “provoked” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “completely wrong and only plays into [Vladimir] Putin’s hands”. Moscow may change the timing for use of its nuclear weapons if threats against Russia increase, the RIA state news agency reported, quoting Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Russian lower house’s defence committee, as saying. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia deployed more than 2,400 guided bombs on Ukraine in June, with about 700 used on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Zelenskyy has also called on Ukraine’s Western allies to deliver promised military aid packages “without delay so that the agreements we reached with [US] President Biden can be realised”. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES State Department [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/24/2248425/-Ukraine-Invasion-Day-853-game-of-drones?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/