Ukraine war: Russia says it destroyed radar station built by US in Zolote town

Russia on Monday said it destroyed a US-made counter-battery radar station near the Ukrainian town of Zolote, Reuters reported.

The Russian defence ministry added it would consider NATO transport carrying weapons in Ukraine as targets meant to be destroyed, this on the 75th day of war.

The claim by Russia comes on a day when it marks the Victory Day, signifying the Soviet Union’s win over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Russian president Vladimir Putin presided over his military might at Moscow’s Red Square on the occasion.

“You are fighting for the fatherland, for the future, so that nobody forgets the lessons of World War II, so that there’s no place for executioners, persecutors and Nazis,” Putin said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky released a video on the occasion, saying Ukraine will have two Victory Days.

“We will never forget what our ancestors did in World War II. Where more than 8 million Ukrainians died. And every fifth Ukrainian didn’t return home. In total, the war claimed at least 50 million lives,” Zelenskyy said. “We don’t say we can repeat.'”

On Sunday, the Russian defence ministry had said its high-precision missiles had destroyed weapons and military equipment supplied to Ukrainian forces from the United States and unspecified Western countries at a railway station near the town of Soledar.

The ministry also said that it had destroyed six depots storing missile and artillery weapons in the Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions while its air defences shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 warplane.

The fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces has continued for the 75th day with no signs of peace. Denying reports of atrocities committed by forces in Ukraine, Moscow has accused Kyiv of stalling talks.

Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Monday that peace talks with Ukraine had not stopped and were being held remotely, according to the Interfax news agency.