War in Ukraine: what to remember on the 331st day of the Russian invasion

Europe 1 with AFP 06:49, January 20, 2023

THE ESSENTIAL

The United States and three European states on Thursday promised substantial new deliveries of armor, missiles and artillery to kyiv, on the eve of a crucial meeting of the main countries helping Ukraine militarily to defend itself against the Russian invasion.

With the stated objective of coordinating the continuation of this assistance, the Defense Ministers of the main Western nations providing it, in the forefront of which the American Lloyd Austin, will be present on Friday at Ramstein air base in Germany.

"We are preparing for Ramstein tomorrow. We expect strong decisions. We expect strong military support from the United States," Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening speech.

Even before this meeting of the "contact group", the United States announced Thursday a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine of 2.5 billion dollars.

This additional aid includes the sending of 59 Bradley armored vehicles, which will be added to the 50 light armored vehicles of this type promised on January 6, and 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers "which will provide Ukraine with two armored brigades", according to the Pentagon.

The US Army will also deliver to Ukraine 53 anti-mine armored vehicles (MRAP) and 350 M998 transport vehicles, the famous Humvee.

But this new tranche does not include any heavy tank, such as the Abrams, which the United States is not yet ready to provide to kyiv, justifying this refusal by questions of maintenance and training.

This new installment brings total US military aid to Ukraine to $26.7 billion since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

"We need tanks" for Ukraine, says Poland

The United Kingdom has pledged to send Ukraine 600 additional Brimstone missiles, Denmark its 19 French-made Caesar guns, and Sweden Archer self-propelled guns.

Systems which all have a range of several tens of kilometers but less than that claimed by the Ukrainians.

London had already promised 14 Challenger 2 heavy tanks to kyiv, and Poland says it is ready to deliver 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks, a total still far from the hundreds of such vehicles that Ukraine says it needs.

"You need German tanks, Finnish tanks, Danish tanks, French tanks, this means that Western Europe itself must now allocate more modern tanks to Ukraine, so that it can simply defend itself “, meanwhile pleaded Thursday the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

"We appeal to all partner states that have already provided or plan to provide military assistance, urging them to significantly increase their contribution," the Ukrainian defense and foreign ministers wrote in a statement. Oleksiï Reznikov and Dmytro Kouleba.

In particular, they pointed the finger at twelve countries, such as Germany and Turkey, asking them for German-made Leopard tanks, the dispatch of which is uncertain because of the procrastination in Germany.

This call was supported by the President of the European Council Charles Michel, for whom "tanks must be delivered" to the Ukrainians because "the next few weeks could be decisive" on the front.

"We hear your message" assures Charles Michel

"We hear your message. You need more air defense and artillery systems, more ammunition," Charles Michel said on Twitter after a meeting in kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking by videoconference on the sidelines of the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland, Volodymyr Zelensky for his part derided, in a clear allusion to the Germans, those who say "'I will deliver tanks if someone else does '".

Germany is also under increasing pressure from several of its European neighbors to allow deliveries of Leopards.

"Against thousands of tanks from Russia (...), the courage of our army and the motivation of the Ukrainian people are not enough", hammered Mr. Zelensky.

Shortly after, one of his advisers, Mykhaïlo Podoliak, called on Westerners to stop "trembling before Putin" and to deliver the armored vehicles that Ukraine says it needs.

Western tanks, however, are "not a silver bullet" against Russia, the Commander of Allied Forces Europe (SACEUR), US General Christopher Cavoli, warned Thursday that "a balance between all systems (of armament) is necessary".

The Ukrainian authorities also say in this regard that they need missile systems with a range of more than 100 km in order to be able to hit the Russian supply chain, in particular ammunition depots.

But Westerners fear, despite Ukrainian assurances, that kyiv will escalate by using these weapons to strike deep into Russian territory and air and naval bases in Crimea, a peninsula annexed in 2014 by Russia.

Russian forces step up efforts on the front

The Kremlin also sent a clear warning on Thursday: the delivery of longer-range weapons "would mean that the conflict would reach a new level".

On the battlefield, Russian forces, supported by the private paramilitary group Wagner, are stepping up their efforts to take Bakhmout, a locality in the Donetsk region (east) which has been the subject of a bloody battle for months.

Over the past 15 days, Russian fighters have advanced a bit, seizing much of the nearby city of Soledar.

And on Thursday, they launched a "local offensive" in the south, near the town of Orekhiv, according to an official of the Russian occupation administration Vladimir Rogov.

In this context, Volodymyr Zelensky recalled "the importance of demilitarizing the power plant (nuclear plant in Zaporizhia, in the south of Ukraine) and of withdrawing all Russian representatives without exception", on the occasion of a meeting with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Raphael Grossi, on a "working visit" to Ukraine.