Kyiv ‘destroys’ Russian arms depot, as EU, US pledge nearly $3 billion

KYIV, Ukraine: Kyiv said on Tuesday it had launched artillery barrages that destroyed a Russian arms depot and carried out a "special operation" to free military captives in the Moscow-controlled Kherson region.

The bombardments in the south came as Washington and the EU announced nearly $3 billion combined for Ukraine, and Turkey said delegations from Moscow and Kyiv would meet in Istanbul on Wednesday to discuss restarting stalled grain deliveries across the Black Sea.

Ukrainian military officials said the strikes had destroyed artillery, armoured vehicles "and a warehouse with ammunition" in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Russian-backed authorities accused Ukraine, however, of damaging civilian infrastructure and killing at least seven people, a toll that could not be independently verified.

"Warehouses were hit, as were shops, a pharmacy, petrol stations and even a church," the head of the city’s Moscow-backed administration, Vladimir Leontiev, said on social media. Ukrainian military intelligence said separately its forces had freed five captives in a "special operation" in Kherson, including a military serviceman and former police officer, without specifying when.

The Ukrainian army has for several weeks been waging a counter-offensive to recapture Kherson, which was taken by Russian troops early in the invasion of Ukraine. The deputy head of the pro-Russian authorities in Kherson, Ekaterina Gubareva, said Ukraine had used long-range, precision artillery systems supplied by the United States in the strikes in Nova Kakhovka.

Military analysts are crediting newly arrived systems from the West -- including HIMARS from the United States -- with attacks deeper into Russian-controlled territory across the front line. EU member states, which have been supplying Ukraine with military support, on Tuesday approved one billion euros ($1 billion) in financial help for Kyiv, billing it as the first instalment of a promised nine-billion-euro rescue package agreed in May.