Ukraine war: Marinka capture, Russia strikes train station, Zelenskyy congratulates troops

Marinka capture ‘not significant’ – ISW

A US-based think-tank has questioned the importance of the recent capture of Marinka by Russian forces. 

Moscow claimed to have seized the city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region from Ukrainian forces on Monday. 

However, the Insitute for the Study of War (ISW) said the “likely capture… represents a limited Russian tactical gain.”

It added that the development “does not portend any operationally significant advance unless Russian forces have dramatically improved their ability to conduct rapid mechanized forward movement, which they show no signs of having done.”

On Monday, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said the city was effectively destroyed due to heavy fighting. 

He acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from Marinka, but claimed that  Ukrainian forces were still operating in Marinka’s northern outskirts. 

Russian missiles hit train station in Ukraine

Russia fired almost 50 Shahed drones at targets in Ukraine and shelled a train station where more than 100 civilians were gathered to catch a train to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Overnight, Kremlin’s forces launched an artillery and drone bombardment on the Kherson region, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. 

The shelling killed one policeman and injured two other police officers, as well as two civilians.

The attack on the southern Kherson region and its capital hit residential areas and a mall as well as striking the power grid. 

Around 70% of households in Kherson city were left without electricity during the winter cold, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

In Odesa, another major city in southern Ukraine, a Russian drone assault killed two people and wounded three, including a 17-year-old man, said regional governor Oleh Kiper.

Zelenskyy congratulates troops on Crimea attack

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian military said its air force had destroyed a warship – the Novocherkassk landing ship – in the Crimean port of Theodosia.

In his night address, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “special thanks to our Air Forces – good work on the invaders in Crimea”.

Russia confirmed on Tuesday that one of its ships had been damaged in an attack by Kyiv in annexed Crimea.

The Ukrainian army assures to have “destroyed” this ship, which according to it was carrying Iranian-made Shahed drones, frequently used by Moscow in the conflict.

The attack also left one dead and two injured and damaged six buildings, according to the governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov.