Russian Strikes Counter Ukrainian Offensive Buildup

May 1, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—It appears that over the last 24 hours or so, Russian forces have been targeting the military buildup ahead of Ukraine’s much anticipated offensive. The most spectacular strike seems to have hit Pavlograd, about 90 km northeast of Zaporozhye. According to reports circulating in Telegram, a huge cache of missiles for S-300 air defense batteries went up in massive balls of fire in the middle of the night. “A huge fiery volcano erupted over the city, the detonation of rockets has been going on for almost an hour,” according to one report posted at 4:44 p.m. EDT. Another report about 15 minutes later suggested that the strike was carried out “with daggers,” that is, with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as they hit without any warning whatsoever. Pavlograd serves as a major logistics hub for both the Donbass and southern fronts.

“The locals tell me about massive landings on railroad infrastructure and fuel and ammunition depots, which Ukrainian militants have accumulated for the counteroffensive,” Vladimir Rogov, the acting leader of the Zaporozhye region told TASS. Rogov later estimated that fuel and ammunition supplies for three Ukrainian brigades had been destroyed.

The Russian Defense Ministry, in its daily update for this morning, reported that overnight, the Russian armed forces launched a long-range, high-precision air and sea-based missile strike against Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities and all of the assigned targets were destroyed. “The enterprises producing ammunition, weapons and military equipment for Ukrainian forces have been disrupted,” the statement said.

Other developments include the following:

The Russian Defense Ministry’s daily update of April 30 reported several strikes on Ukrainian troop concentration areas, causing hundreds of casualties and up to 200 tonnes of Ukrainian ammunition supplies have been destroyed as a result of a strike on a train at a railway station near Kramatorsk.