Ahmad 
A senior Ukrainian security official says Russia is intensifying its strikes on Ukraine’s railway network with the aim of “crippling” the military supplies, including Western aid.
The Ukrainian official explained that these strikes come as part of conventional measures ahead of a major offensive expected in the coming weeks, with a focus on “paralyzing supplies and transporting military shipments.”
For its part, the Russian military confirmed on Friday that it had bombed “a train carrying Western weapons and military equipment” in the town of Odachny in the Donetsk region (east), as well as military “troops and equipment” in Balaklya.
The strikes on Ukraine’s rail network come as the United States has resumed aid to Ukraine, which had been frozen due to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an immediate $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, the first of about $61 billion earmarked for Ukraine’s military support.
In a related context, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, at a meeting of defense ministers of the SCO member states in Astana, said: “(NATO) forces have come very close to the Russian borders and created additional threats to military security, I want to emphasize that it is not us, but they who came to us and this shows once again that we cannot trust the Westerners, now they reproach us and say that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, we will attack the NATO countries.”
Shoigu stressed that Russia has and has not had plans to attack the alliance countries, and through the special military operation it simply protects the interests of the people in its historical territory, stressing that Russia always makes “maximum efforts to maintain strategic stability and balance of power in the world.”
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