Russia's military aggression against Ukraine continues.



Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continues across Ukraine, forcing thousands of civilians to flee the country.

We will keep you updated on developments in Ukraine on February 1st (Japan time), including the battle situation and the diplomacy of the countries concerned.



(There is a 7-hour time difference between Japan and Ukraine, and a 6-hour time difference with Moscow, Russia.)

Ukraine foreign minister to receive 120-140 tanks as first batch

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said in a video released on the 31st that Ukraine will receive 120 to 140 modern Western tanks as the first batch.



This includes the German Leopard 2 tank, the British Challenger 2, and the American Abrams.



Foreign Minister Kureba said, "We have great expectations for the provision of the French-made Leclerc tank."



In addition, Foreign Minister Kureba said that 12 countries, including countries that have not yet made a formal decision, will participate in the provision of tanks. We are continuing," he said, indicating that he would continue to work on expanding military support.

Russia 'bounty' for destroying Western tanks

While European and American countries have announced the provision of tanks to Ukraine one after another, in Russia there are companies that have announced that they will provide large rewards to soldiers who destroy tanks.



A manufacturer of crude oil drilling equipment is offering a bounty of 5 million rubles, or about 9.2 million yen, to soldiers who are the first to destroy or capture a German-made Leopard 2 or an American main battle tank, the Abrams. I announced it on my homepage when I put it out.



From the second onwards, soldiers who achieve similar results will receive 500,000 rubles, or about 920,000 yen.



According to the Russian Statistical Office, the average monthly wage in Russia was about 63,000 rubles, or about 120,000 yen in Japanese yen, as of November last year (2022), and this bounty is about that. greatly surpasses.



Several Russian media reported that the governor of the Zabaikal region in the Far East also announced that he would provide a large reward in the same way, and while the West is providing military support to Ukraine, the aim is to raise the morale of Russian soldiers. It looks like there is.