Just one day before NATO leaders were set to convene in Ankara, Turkey, Russia launched another massive wave of missile strikes on Ukraine, killing several people and targeting military-industrial sites. The Russian Defense Ministry framed the campaign as retaliation for what it called Kiev’s “terrorist attacks” on Russian civilian targets, with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov telling President Putin that the strikes have “significantly degraded” Ukraine’s capacity to produce long-range weapons.
A former Ukrainian legislator, Igor Mosiychuk, claimed that one strike on a Kiev suburb hit a depot storing depleted uranium munitions — a claim that, if verified, would add a dangerous dimension to the environmental and health risks of the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used the moment to appeal to NATO allies, leveling “grave accusations” against Putin and pressing for stronger commitments at the summit.
