\u2018Extremely cruel\u2019 attacks kill at least seven in Kharkiv; Blinken told to get rid of ban on Ukrainians firing US weapons into Russia. What we know on day 821<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian jamming<\/strong> has kept many of Ukraine\u2019s relatively new long-range GLSDB bombs from hitting their intended targets<\/strong>, three people familiar with the problem have told Reuters. The Boeing and Saab-made ground-launched small diameter bomb has a 161km range. It launches with a rocket motor and then wings pop out to extend its range. But its guidance system has been targeted by Russian jamming that its makers are struggling to counteract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian missiles killed at least seven civilians in Kharkiv<\/strong> on Thursday, officials said. At least 20 people were wounded as S-300 missiles struck, said the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called the attack \u201cextremely cruel\u201d and expressed renewed frustration at not getting enough air defence systems from western allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian missiles struck the town centre in Liubotyn<\/strong>, about 10km (6 miles) west of the city of Kharkiv, wounding eight civilians. In Derhachi, another nearby town, 13 people were wounded<\/strong> in another aerial strike, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian troops have made incursions in the northern Sumy region<\/strong> where nearly 1,500 people, including 200 children, have been evacuated from the towns of Bilopillia and Vorozhba, according to the regional governor, Volodymyr Artiukh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the US, the House foreign affairs chairman, Michael McCaul, has told Joe Biden\u2019s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, during a congressional hearing that the Biden administration needs to lift the ban on Ukraine\u2019s military firing US-supplied weapons across the border into Russia,<\/strong> from where attacks on Ukraine<\/a> are launched. \u201cThey cannot achieve victory with the restrictions you placed on them,\u201d McCaul said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Texas congressman displayed a map of Russian artillery, rockets and missiles lining the Russian side of the border in a \u201csanctuary zone\u201d that Ukraine is not allowed to hit<\/strong> with American heavy weaponry in self-defence. Blinken replied that the administration was not \u201cenabling or endorsing attacks outside Ukraine \u2026 but Ukraine will have to make, and will make, its own decisions and I want to make sure it gets the equipment it needs to effectively defend itself\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The head of the Russia-annexed Crimea peninsula said a Ukrainian missile attack<\/strong> killed two people near Simferopol, the main administrative centre. Ukrainian military bloggers and unofficial media reported a number of targets were hit throughout the peninsula. News outlet RBK-Ukraine reported, without citing a source, that targets could have included headquarters for the coastguard or intelligence centres<\/strong>. The Guardian has not been able to independently verify these reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia\u2019s defence ministry said on Thursday that Ukrainian rockets and drones<\/strong> attacked the Belgorod region. The regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a woman was killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poland and Greece have called for the EU to create an \u201cair defence shield\u201d<\/strong> against Russia. \u201cEurope will be safe as long as the skies over it are safe,\u201d Poland\u2019s prime minister, Donald Tusk, and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, wrote in a letter to the EU chief, Ursula Von der Leyen, calling for \u201ca comprehensive air defence system to protect our common EU airspace against all incoming threats\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian authorities have arrested a general and high-ranking defence official, Vadim Shamarin, deputy head of Russia\u2019s general staff, on corruption and \u201cabuse of power\u201d charges. The Kremlin denied it was carrying out a purge of top army officials<\/strong>, but some of Russia\u2019s influential military bloggers welcomed the arrest of a general they hold responsible for battlefield failures in the two-year offensive in Ukraine. Critics and opposition figures have for years said Russia\u2019s military is riddled with corruption<\/a>, although when things are going well on the battlefield, military leaders rarely face any serious probe or retribution<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ivan Popov<\/strong>, an ex-commander who was sacked after he\u2002<\/a>criticised<\/strong><\/a> Russia\u2019s military leaders for a high casualty rate in Ukraine<\/strong>, was arrested this week. US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said: \u201cThe Kremlin is likely using the pattern of recent arrests of high-ranking officials on corruption charges in the Russian MoD to conceal the real reasons for Popov\u2019s punishment almost 10 months after his conflict with the Russian military command<\/strong> and subsequent dismissal from his command position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia\u2019s investigative committee also recently announced the arrest<\/strong> of Vladimir Verteletsky, a defence ministry official; a deputy defence minister, Timur Ivanov; and the head of the ministry\u2019s personnel, Yuri Kuznetsov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n