Russia has expanded its military goals in Ukraine from seizing control of the eastern Donbas region to regime change, the Kremlin's top diplomat says.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking to envoys at an Arab League summit in Cairo late Sunday, said Moscow is targeting the "absolutely unacceptable regime" of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We feel sorry for the Ukrainian people, who deserve far better," Lavrov said. "We feel sorry for Ukrainian history, which is collapsing before our eyes."
Zelenskyy was unbowed, pleading to win "this war for independence" and to keep Ukraine on a course toward full membership in the EU and becoming one of the most modern states in the world.
Russian troops swept into Ukraine on Feb. 24 and rolled toward Kyiv before bogging down on the outskirts of the capital. The Kremlin then hit reset, focusing its efforts on the industrial Donbas.
An advanced weapons system provided by the U.S. has allowed Ukraine to destroy 50 Russian ammunition depots since arriving in June, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said Monday in televised remarks.
"This cuts their logistical chains and takes away their ability to conduct active fighting and cover our armed forces with heavy shelling," Reznikov said.
The U.S. initially sent eight High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which have a longer range and more accuracy than Ukraine's Soviet-era artillery, and has since committed to eight more. The American military has also provided training on their use. The weapons can help negate some of the artillery advantage that has helped the Russians make substantial gains in the eastern Donbas region.
"We will tailor our assistance to ensure that Ukraine has the technology, the ammunition and the sheer firepower to defend itself,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week in announcing the latest HIMARS package.
The Kremlin has prioritized finding the HIMARS launchers and claims to have destroyed four, which the Ukraine military denies.