Defenders Extend Fiery Greeting To Russians With Rocket Flurry

Ukrainian defenders fire a flurry of rockets into the night sky to extend a “fiery greeting” to their Russian counterparts, as shown in an official video.

The attack was carried out by members of the 59th Motorized Brigade, named after Yakov Gandziuk, a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

The Ukrainian military joked that they sent a “fiery greeting” to the Russians to show them how “brightly Ukrainian artillery shines” in the night sky.

In the footage, defending soldiers are seen sending a flurry of rockets into the air from the safety of their foxhole.

The Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said on May 26: “That’s how brightly Ukrainian artillery shines for the occupiers!

“The fiery greeting was conveyed to the enemy by the 59th separate motorized infantry brigade named after Yakov Gandziuk.

“We never get tired of looking at the work of our defenders, we believe in the Armed Forces.”

In other developments, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces have attacked over 40 towns in the eastern Donbas region.

They added that five civilians died, 12 were wounded and 47 civilian sites were destroyed or damaged in the latest attacks.
The death toll from shelling in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv on May 26 has now reached nine people, including a baby.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on May 26 that lives are lost in Ukraine every moment the West delays putting more pressure on Russia.He said the Donbas could be left uninhabited by the invasion and accused Russia of carrying out a genocide in the region.

His foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine would not be able to counter the Russian offensive without more heavy weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that makes it easier for Ukrainians in occupied areas to become citizens of Russia.

Russia has also done away with the upper age limit for contractual service in its military.

Ukraine has called Russia’s offer to lift the blockade of its Black Sea ports in return for the lifting of some sanctions “blackmail”.

The blockade has led to shortages in wheat and cooking oil across the world.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. May 27 marks the 93rd day of the campaign.

From February 24 to May 27, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 29,750 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,322 tanks, 3,246 armored fighting vehicles, 623 artillery systems, 201 multiple launch rocket systems, 93 anti-aircraft systems, 206 warplanes, 170 helicopters, 2,226 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 vessels, 503 unmanned aerial vehicles, 48 units of special equipment, and 115 cruise missiles.