Moscow: Promises of tanks indicate direct Western involvement in the war

A barrage of Russian missiles hit Ukraine, and Kiev shoots down 47 of them

A Ukrainian woman with two children next to a house damaged in a Russian airstrike in the town of Hlyvakha, outside Kyiv.

Reuters

Yesterday, Russian forces launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine, in a series of strikes that killed at least 11 people, some of which targeted vital energy facilities, which led to power outages, a day after Washington and Berlin announced their intention to supply heavy tanks to Kyiv.

While Kyiv announced that the air defenses shot down 47 of the 55 missiles launched by Russia, the Kremlin considered that the decision of Western countries to send tanks to Kiev makes it a party to the conflict.

In detail, at least 11 people were killed and others injured when dozens of Russian missiles hit the capital, Kyiv, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Parts of a missile dropped by the Ukrainian Air Force killed a 55-year-old man, according to city officials.

And the authority regulating the energy sector in Ukraine announced that it had begun emergency power cuts around Kyiv, and in the regions of Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk.

The new Russian attacks paralyzed the electricity supply, while the temperatures are close to zero, with the intensification of the winter season.

Two energy facilities were damaged in the Odessa region in southern Ukraine, according to what was announced by the head of the military administration in the region, Yuri Krok.

The mayor of Kyiv urged residents to stay in shelters after an explosion was heard in the Ukrainian capital, amid what officials said was a volley of Russian missiles.

And Ukrainian air defense systems shot down 47 out of 55 Russian missiles launched by Russian forces yesterday at Ukraine, according to the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny, on Telegram.

Zaluzhny said that the air defense "destroyed 47 cruise missiles, 20 of them near the capital" Kyiv, noting that the Russians launched a total of 55 missiles from the air and sea yesterday.

The Ukrainian Air Force had earlier announced the downing of a group of attack drones launched by Russian forces from the Sea of ​​Azov in southern Ukraine.

"Drones were launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov," the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement on Telegram.

According to preliminary information, Russia used 24 Witness drones.

They are all destroyed.”

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna arrived in Odessa to express Paris' support for Ukraine.

The minister will discuss with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, "the immediate and emergency needs of Ukrainians, both military and civil."

In connection with this, the United States and Germany agreed to provide Ukraine with advanced heavy tanks, in a decision long awaited by Kyiv, which it saw as an "important step to achieve final victory" over the Russian forces.

In a televised speech, US President Joe Biden said that his country will provide Kiev with 31 Abrams tanks, which are considered one of the most powerful and advanced weapons in the US army.

Prior to the American announcement, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country had agreed to send 14 Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine.

Yesterday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Berlin intends to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine between “late March and early April.”

In London, Alex Chuck, Secretary of State at the British Ministry of Defense, said that his country hopes that the Challenger 2 tanks, which will be supplied to Kyiv, will arrive in Ukraine at the end of March.

For its part, the Polish government expects to deliver 14 German-made Leopard battle tanks from its military stocks to Ukraine within weeks.

Hours after Berlin and Washington announced their agreement to send advanced heavy tanks to Kyiv, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Ghana Malyar said, via the Telegram application, that “battles are raging” in the vicinity of Bakhmut, which Russian forces have been trying for months to control, as well as in the vicinity of Voglidar, The city located in the southwest of Donetsk.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin considered yesterday that the decision of Western countries to send tanks to Kyiv makes it a party to the conflict.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "European capitals and Washington are constantly making statements that they are sending different types of weapons, including tanks, and it does not in any way mean their involvement in the fighting.

We have a completely different opinion on that.

In Moscow, this is seen as direct involvement in the conflict, and it is increasing.”

On the other hand, the US Embassy in Moscow announced the arrival of the new ambassador, Lynne Tracy, to the Russian capital at dawn yesterday, according to the RT website. 

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