Day: December 27, 2024

The Israeli Air Force struck seven checkpoints on the border between Syria and Lebanon. The raid aimed to block the flow of weapons to the Lebanese group Hezbollah in the southern part of the country, reports Reuters.

It is reported that Israeli forces in southern Lebanon also seized a truck carrying a 40-tube rocket launcher. The vehicle was part of a shipment that included explosives, grenade launchers, and AK-47 assault rifles.

Israeli Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar stated that Hezbollah is attempting to smuggle weapons into Lebanon to test Israel’s ability to stop it.

“This must not be tolerated,” he said in a statement.

Fragile truce between Israel and Lebanon

On November 27, a ceasefire agreement came into effect between the Hezbollah group and Israel. The deal was brokered by leaders from the United States, France, and several other countries.

Under the agreement, Israel was required to gradually withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah was to dismantle unauthorized military facilities south of the Litani River.

However, the ceasefire has not been fully implemented. Both sides accuse each other of violating the terms of the agreement.

In early December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of seriously violating the ceasefire.

Subsequently, Israeli forces attacked Islamist military targets in Lebanon.

During subsequent operations throughout December, Israel destroyed a significant portion of Hezbollah’s missile stockpiles in southern Lebanon and stated that it would not allow the smuggling of weapons to militants through Syria.

On Thursday, December 26, UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon urged Israeli troops to withdraw, citing multiple violations of the agreement.

Russia’s arsenal of long-range missiles currently consists of up to 1,400 units of various types, with a significant portion being a stockpile reserve. At the same time, the aggressor country is capable of producing 120 to 150 Iskanders, Kalibers, and X-101 missiles per month, states Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

Missile arsenal

According to the representative of military intelligence, among the approximately 1,400 long-range missiles in Russia’s reserve, there are:

• about 350 sea-launched cruise missiles of the Kalibr type;
• 500 medium-range anti-ship missiles Onyx;
• more than 50 air-launched ballistic missiles of the Kinzhal type;
• over 130 Iskander missiles;
• more than 400 missiles of the X-101 class (strategic air-launched cruise missiles, air-to-ground), X-55 (strategic aviation cruise missiles), and X-35 (subsonic cruise anti-ship missiles).

“On many positions, this is an untouched stockpile. Therefore, they pay a lot of attention to planning, and reconnaissance, and do not act recklessly as they did during the early stages of the full-scale invasion,” Yusov noted.

Missile production

The representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized that the production of missiles by Russia is still critically dependent on foreign components. He highlighted the importance of both the international sanctions regime and strengthening the monitoring of its enforcement.

Regarding the threat of new large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian territory, Yusov urged citizens to take air raid warnings seriously.

As for Russia’s ability to replenish its stockpiles of various types of missiles, according to the GUR representative, the Russian forces are capable of producing 40 to 50 Iskander missiles, 30 to 50 Kalibr missiles, and about 50 X-101 missiles per month.

Drone manufacturing

Furthermore, Yusov noted that Russia has also increased the production of drones of various types.

He added that Russia was heavily dependent on supplies of strike drones from allied countries and foreign components for them during the early stages. However, transferred technologies and established production now allow Moscow to independently manufacture drones of various kinds.

The representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate also pointed out that the enemy continues to actively use decoy drones to exhaust Ukraine’s air defense systems.

On December 27, the Financial Times reported that despite sanctions and export controls, Russia continues to use Western technologies for the production of its weapons, including the Oreshnik missile.

Additionally, according to US broadcaster CNN, Russia is actively ramping up the production of Shahed-136 drones at a factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Tatarstan).

In Mykolaiv, a fire broke out in a high-rise building as a result of a nighttime enemy airstrike using strike drones. The roof of the building is on fire, states the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Kim.

The official provided preliminary information regarding the consequences of the drone attack on Mykolaiv during the night of December 28.

“As a result of the Shahed drone attack, the roof of a high-rise building is reportedly on fire. The information is being updated,” he said on his Telegram channel.

The head of the Regional Military Administration (RMA) added that emergency services have been dispatched to the scene.

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych shared the message from the head of the regional administration regarding the fire caused by the Russian attack on the city.

The mayor also mentioned that the air raid alert in the region is still ongoing.

Updated: The fire has been extinguished.

At 02:27 a.m. Kyiv time, the head of the Mykolaiv RMA, Kim, reported that the fire in Mykolaiv, caused by the Russian drone attack, had been extinguished.

“At the moment, there are no casualties,” the official added.

Night drone strike on Mykolaiv

Earlier, it was reported that starting from the evening of the previous day, Russian forces had launched kamikaze drones towards Ukraine. The enemy’s strike drones approached from the southern direction.

Around 12:30 a.m. Kyiv time on December 28, explosions were heard in the area of Mykolaiv. Before that, the movement of enemy strike drones was observed heading towards the regional center.

Additionally, around 01:25 a.m. Kyiv time, repeated explosion sounds were heard in Mykolaiv.