Just hours after Germany and the US announced their plans to give Ukraine new tanks, Russia launched missiles at Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, prompting Ukraine to urge the West to get military equipment into the hands of its troops as soon as possible.
On Thursday morning, Russia fired 55 missiles towards Ukraine, according to the Telegram account of the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. According to Shmyhal, the attack was directed against the nation’s “energy facilities,” and several power substations were hit.
According to Shmyhal on Telegram, “the major objectives were energy facilities to rob Ukrainians of power and warmth.” “Our defenses successfully intercepted most missiles and drones. Unfortunately, substations experienced hits. The electricity grid problem is still under control, though. Power engineers are making every effort to supply power.
After the incident, there were sudden power shortages in the Kyiv region.
According to the mayor of the city, there was one fatality in the nation’s capital and an air raid alert was in effect for the entire nation. The 55-year-old victim was identified as being killed “due to the fall of missile fragments,” the chief of the military administration for the city of Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, noted.
Popko charged that Russia transported attack drones produced in Iran to Ukraine overnight in an effort to divert Ukrainian air defense units. On Thursday, fifteen attack drones were launched over the capital, “not only intended at targeting targets on the ground,” he claimed. “The drones comprise the initial wave of a joint air attack for detecting and exhausting Ukrainian air defences,” the report reads.
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The new assault occurs in the midst of Russian wrath over the West’s choice to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge tanks. After weeks of geopolitical talks, Germany finally gave the go-ahead for the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks on Wednesday, joining the US in providing a batch of vehicles.
However, a race to deploy those tanks has already begun, and Thursday’s offensive suggests Moscow will try to weaken Ukrainian resolve during this time.
During the strikes on Thursday, many sought refuge in the metro stations in Kiev.
During the strikes on Thursday, many sought refuge in the metro stations in Kiev.
Reuters/Vacheslav Ratynskyi
In his daily video speech on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the importance of speed and loudness. “The rapidity of our military’s training and the speed with which tanks are supplied to Ukraine. how much tank assistance there is.
According to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Germany intends to deliver its 14 committed Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine by the end of March “at the latest.” Following a period of preparation for Ukrainian military, that will happen.
Pistorius argued that it was still possible.
Given the intricacy of the systems and the logistics of moving a battalion across the Atlantic Ocean and into eastern Ukraine, it is anticipated that the arrival of 31 American Abrams tanks will take much longer. According to the White House, the US will start a “extensive training program” for the Ukrainians in the interim, which will require a lot of upkeep after they are deployed.
“We must protect our skies,”
Before the predicted Russian onslaught in the spring gets started, Kiev will be hoping that Germany’s Leopards be integrated into their operations.
Along with its strike on Ukraine on Thursday, Russia also expressed its ire over the tank delivery. The delivery of contemporary Western combat tanks to Ukraine, according to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, is seen as “direct engagement” in the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
Instead of concentrating on repelling Russian attacks, NATO countries rejected Russia’s anger and demonstrated a willingness to start a potential new phase of the conflict by arming Ukraine with weapons.
Additionally, Kiev is still pushing for more Western supplies, such as upgraded missile systems and cutting-edge fighter fighters. Zelensky stated, adding that he had discussed the issue with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, that “we have to unlock the supply of long-range missiles to Ukraine, it is necessary for us to increase our cooperation in artillery, and we have to achieve the supply of planes to Ukraine.”
27 January 2022, Hohenfels, Bavaria: During the international military exercise “Allied Spirit 2022” at the Hohenfels military training facility, a Polish Leopard 2 stands in a wooded location. Military forces from more than ten nations are practicing for emergencies at a training facility with helicopters, tanks, and infantry. Armin Weigel/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images provided the image.
Why the West’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine is a bold new move
Zelensky described the request as “a fantasy,” but also as “an essential duty for all of us,” denoting the beginning of yet another protracted round of negotiations in which Ukraine would attempt to persuade the West to increase its military help once more.
Meanwhile, the nation’s defense minister said to CNN on Wednesday that fighter jets are on Ukraine’s “wish list” of Western weapons.
Oleksii Reznikov said to Christiane Amanpour, “I wrote a desire list card to Santa Claus last year, and fighter jets also [were] contained in this wish list.”
But he said that in order to stop Russia from conducting air and missile strikes, air defense systems were his government’s top priority. He declared, “We must close our sky, to safeguard our sky. “That’s the top priority. Following that, we must acquire more armored vehicles, tanks, artillery systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc. We need weapons even though we have people.
According to the deputy defense minister of Ukraine, Russian forces are “intensifying their pressure” on the eastern city of Bakhmut.