Ukraine continues to launch attacks on Russian military targets and energy facilities. This morning, the General Staff reported three strategic attacks. The main one affected a refinery in the Volgograd region that processes 15.7 million tons per year, 5.6% of all oil refined in Russia.
In addition, Kiev's forces have targeted fuel and lubricant depots in Crimea and a Russian military infrastructure where kamikaze drones Shahed were stored and launched from.
On the other hand, Moscow has forecasted that its army will be able to conquer the city of Kupiansk in a week, while a Ukrainian army spokesperson has stated that their soldiers have expelled the Russians from the northern part of the city.
Anti-Putin dissident group sets dozens of locomotives on fire in Russia, according to Kiev
A dissident Russian group opposed to the Kremlin burned dozens of locomotives that Russia may be using to transport weapons, ammunition, and other materials to Russian troops on the front, according to Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR). The organization is called 'Freedom for Russia'. According to Ukrainian GUR, it has been active in Russian territory since the beginning of the war and is "one of the largest and most effective resistance movements" against the Kremlin within Russia, as reported by Efe.
The group has its own Telegram channel, with about 1,700 followers, and has announced these actions with the same video that GUR has published, showing the individuals responsible for these sabotage acts spraying flammable liquid and setting fire to what appear to be train locomotives.
Poland to train 500,000 volunteers to strengthen its defense
The Polish Minister of Defense announced on Thursday that the country, a neighbor of both Ukraine and Russia, plans to militarily train around 500,000 volunteers by the end of next year to enhance its defense capabilities, as reported by Afp.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this NATO and European Union member has intensified defense efforts to deter potential enemy aggression.
The new training program "Always Ready" is aimed at "all Polish citizens who wish to benefit from it," said Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz at a press conference.
Russia claims to have taken over 64 buildings in Pokrovsk and its surroundings
The Russian Ministry of Defense has stated that its troops have gained control of another 64 buildings in the Ukrainian stronghold of Pokrovsk (Donetsk region) and its surroundings in the last 24 hours.
"In the town of Krasnoarmeisk (Russian name for Pokrovsk), of the Donetsk People's Republic, assault units of the 2nd Army continued to destroy the Ukrainian Armed Forces surrounded in the eastern part of the central district and in the western industrial zone, in addition to expelling Ukrainian fighters from the villages of Hnativka and Rog," the military report on Telegram states.
According to the report, Russian forces took over 64 buildings in the mentioned area during the past day. Defense also reported that 13 Ukrainian attacks to unlock the positions of the surrounded units in Pokrovsk were repelled.
The Russian military command indicated that their troops continue to eliminate Ukrainian forces trapped in the eastern part of the central district and in the industrial zone of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region.
Russian woman dies after Ukrainian attack in Belgorod
A Russian woman has died following a Ukrainian drone attack on a house in the border region of Belgorod, as reported by the local governor, Viacheslav Gladkov.
"The Ukrainian Army launched a new deliberate attack against the civilian population. In Jutor Mikhailovka in the Valuisk district, a drone hit a residence. As a result of the explosion, a woman died at the scene," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Gladkov expressed his sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victim.
Russia criticizes Western hysteria over possible Russian nuclear tests
The Kremlin criticized on Thursday the hysterical reaction from the West to Vladimir Putin's statements that he will consider resuming nuclear tests. "All of this fits in with the anti-Russian militaristic hysteria that has now erupted in Western European countries," said Dmitry Peskov, presidential spokesperson, to local press.
He emphasized that such a reaction occurred "despite all our statements and the precise clarifications from the president." "This is a continuation (...) of the excessively emotional reaction of Western media, many of which have no qualms about distorting the meaning of the speech," he said, as reported by Efe.
At the same time, he denied that Moscow had received an official reaction from Washington to the extraordinary meeting of the Russian Security Council chaired by Putin on Wednesday.
In that meeting, Putin raised the issue of the government studying the possibility of resuming nuclear tests, after his American counterpart, Donald Trump, recently considered the possibility of conducting tests with nuclear weapons. At the same time, he stressed that the Kremlin remains committed to its policy of not conducting such tests as long as other powers do the same.
A video released by Ukraine suggests that Russia does not control the center of Pokrovsk
A video released on Wednesday by the Ukrainian Army showing its soldiers raising a Ukrainian flag at the Pokrovsk City Hall indicates that Russian forces control fewer areas of the city than claimed by Russian military bloggers, according to an analysis by the Ukrainian platform dedicated to the study of war, DeepState.
"The video confirms that the city is not surrounded or under enemy control; most of Pokrovsk is a gray area (in dispute), where both Russians and Ukrainians hold some positions," according to the DeepState analysis published on Thursday.
The Pokrovsk City Hall is located approximately one kilometer south of the train station.
Russian military Telegram channels like the popular Rybar give the area where the station and the town hall are located as completely controlled by Russia.
However, according to DeepState, there are groups of both Ukrainian and Russian soldiers inside the city who have been left within enemy-controlled areas. Most of these groups try to hide and avoid engaging in combat to avoid being discovered and attacked from the air by drones, which are playing a decisive role in the battle for the city. Efe reports.
Ukraine claims to have expelled Russians from the north of Kupiansk, where fighting continues
The spokesperson for the Joint Forces of Ukraine, Viktor Tregubov, stated on Ukrainian television that the Ukrainian army has expelled Russian troops from the northern part of the city of Kupiansk, where fighting continues and the situation is constantly changing.
"As of today, there have been a series of counterattacks in the northern part of the city, the Russians have been expelled, but the situation remains precarious," said the military spokesperson, as quoted by the Ukrainian public agency Ukrinform.
Tregubov explained that the Russian tactic in Kupiansk, as in other front-line locations like Pokrovsk, is to infiltrate small groups into cities that later hide in buildings until they regroup with other detachments and engage in battle when they have enough forces.
Tregubov also referred to the situation in the city of Vovchansk, located, like Kupiansk, in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, bordering Russia. Vovchansk, he explained, is completely destroyed, and the Russians are trying to expel Ukrainians from the southern part of the municipality.
Also on Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense had predicted that Kupiansk - a railway hub with a pre-war population of 26,000 people - would be taken by Russian forces within a week. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, their Army still needs to take over 130 buildings in the city.
Ukraine reports three attacks on Russian military and energy targets
The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Thursday three attacks on military targets and energy facilities of the enemy located in Russian territory and the occupied Crimea peninsula.
One of the targeted infrastructures is the refinery in the Volgograd region, which processes 15.7 million tons per year, 5.6% of all oil refined in Russia. "We have recorded explosions and a fire around the target," states the Ukrainian military report.