Clashes escalate in eastern Ukraine Kyiv demands more weapons news. Last Minute AFRICA, GERMANY, UK, Russia headlines and events

Ukrainian officials have said Russia is trying to break through Ukraine’s defense line by engaging in heavy fighting in the north and east, showing that Kyiv needs more Western-made weapons.

The Ukrainian army said heavy fighting continued for a day after Russian missiles and drones killed at least 11 people. The Russian attacks are interpreted as a response to Ukraine’s guarantees of heavy weapons supplies from Western countries.

After several weeks of debate, Germany and the US agreed to send a large number of tanks to Ukraine, which made it possible for Canada, Poland, Finland, Norway and other countries to make similar decisions.

Russia, which accuses America of “pumping weapons into Ukraine,” noted that the key to ending the conflict in Ukraine lies in the hands of President Joe Biden, but Biden did not use it.

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his allies for their support and called for tougher sanctions on Moscow and more weapons to repel invaders in a war that is about to enter its 12th month.

In his speech yesterday, Zelensky said: “This is evil, this hostility towards Russia can and must be stopped with adequate weapons. The state of terror does not understand another language.”

Ukrainian local officials noted that the north, northeast and east of the country came under heavy artillery fire.

Kharkiv Governor Oleg Sinekhobov said: “Fierce battles continue on the front line. Our defensive forces are holding positions and inflicting losses on the enemy.”

The Reuters news agency was unable to independently verify news of events on the battlefield.

Polling attacks

In an effort to protect the lands it has seized in eastern Ukraine and establish dominance in the region, Russia also wants to protect the corridor it has seized in the south.

Both Russia and Ukraine are expected to start new operations in the spring. However, America openly warned Ukraine not to launch a new attack until the weapons promised to Ukraine were in position and the training programs were completed. This process is expected to take several months.

Oleksandr Musiyenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Military and Strategic Studies, said Russia had deployed fresh troops, most of them newly recruited, to thwart Ukraine’s advance.

“However, they are not at the same level of artillery and tank support as they were on February 24,” Musiyenko told Ukrainian television.

The UK has reported that Russia has carried out tit-for-tat attacks at Origov in southeastern Ukraine and at Vuhledar in the east, but they are unlikely to have made “concrete progress”.

Russia, intensifying its attacks on the eastern front line, is trying to use the recently captured city of Soledar as a means of pressure on the nearby Bakhmut.

Mykola Sungurovsky, director of military programs at the Razumkov Center, a think tank in Ukraine, said: “Where will Russia’s main strike be? We have no idea yet,” and warned that Russia could launch “distraction attacks” to confuse the Ukrainian army. military.

The problem of deported and adopted Ukrainian children

On the other hand, Ukraine accuses Moscow of deporting children and adults living in the occupied territories and issuing Russian passports to them. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemns these Russian actions.

“Granting children Russian citizenship or keeping them for adoption is incompatible with the fundamental principles of protecting children in time of war. This is what is happening in Russia and should not happen,” UNHCR Director Filippo Grandi told Reuters after his visit to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Japan, which announced tougher sanctions against Russia, expanded its existing list of export bans and froze the assets of Russian officials and institutions.

But Ukraine’s hopes that the European Union would decide to impose sanctions that would affect nuclear energy were thwarted by Hungary. Hungary, which has a nuclear power plant built by Russia, is making plans to expand it.

Yesterday, the United States designated the private mercenary group Wagner as an international criminal organization and froze the group’s US assets on the grounds that it was helping the Russian military.

The Kremlin noted that Washington has unreasonably “demonized” Wagner for many years.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who went on a trip to Africa to enlist Moscow’s support, traveled to Eritrea after his first stop in South Africa.

Borrell asks South Africa to convince Russia to end the war

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, who visited South Africa the day after Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, expressed hope that South Africa would use its good relations with Russia to persuade Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

Borrell, who met with Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor in Pretoria, South Africa’s capital, said the EU does not want South Africa to pick a side, but only requires countries around the world to comply with the UN Convention.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Borrell said: “This is not just a European war. This is a war on European soil, but affecting the whole world.”

Poland to send Ukraine 60 upgraded tanks in addition to Leopards

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said yesterday in an interview with Canadian television that his country will donate 60 modernized tanks to Ukraine in addition to 14 German-made Leopard tanks.

In a statement to CTV Haber, Prime Minister Morawiecki said: “Poland, as the first country to send tanks to Ukraine, delivered 250 tanks 6 months ago and then gave more.”

Last April, Poland said it was sending tanks to help Kyiv resist Russian attacks.

Mateusz Morawiecki said: “At the moment we are not ready to send 60 of our modernized tanks, 30 of which are PT-91s. We are sending 14 Leopard 2 tanks from our own arsenal.”

The Polish-made PT-91 tanks, which entered service in the 1990s, were developed on the basis of the Soviet T-72 tanks.

President of Ukraine Zelensky thanked Poland on Twitter: “Together we will win!” shared your message.

On the other hand, Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Marcin Osiepa told the private broadcaster RMF FM that Leopard tanks could take 3 months to reach Ukraine.

broadcast by Voice of America Conflict escalates in eastern Ukraine Kyiv wants more weapons in the news houra-ber.com editors have no editorial intervention. Conflicts escalate in eastern Ukraine The news “Kyiv needs more weapons” is automatically posted on our website as it comes from the Voice of America website. in this district Conflict escalates in eastern Ukraine Kyiv wants more weapons The legal addressee of the news is the websites and agencies that published the news.