Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Western nations have promised increasingly modern weapons to bolster Ukraine’s defenses as its troops battle a tough Russian offensive as it approaches a key city in the east.
Germany said Wednesday it would supply Ukraine with state-of-the-art anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, and the United States will unveil a new package of weapons later in the day that will include high-tech medium-range missile systems.
A Kremlin spokesman told reporters Wednesday that the United States was “adding fuel to the fire.”
Western weapons were crucial to Ukraine’s success in stopping Russia’s much larger and better-equipped army – thwarting its initial efforts to seize the capital and forcing Moscow to shift its focus to the eastern industrial region of Donbass.
But as the war dragged on and Russia bombed cities as it gradually advanced eastward, Ukraine has repeatedly prayed for more and better weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has occasionally criticized the West for moving too slowly in shipping – and military analysts say Russia hopes to take over Donbass before any weapons arrive that could reverse the tide.
Germany came under heavy fire, both at home and from allies abroad, for not doing enough.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers that the IRIS-T SLM missiles he would send were the country’s most advanced air defense system.
“This will enable Ukraine to protect an entire city from Russian airstrikes,” he said.
Scholz said Germany was in talks with the United States to coordinate the supply of missile systems that Kyiv had requested.
In addition to the missile systems he promised, the US package will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapons systems, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more, two senior administration officials said on Tuesday. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to review the package before it was officially presented.
One official noted that advanced missile systems would give Ukrainian forces more precision in targeting Russian assets in Ukraine.
Moscow views US plans to supply more weapons “negatively”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, saying the Kremlin did not believe Kyiv’s assurances that missile systems would not be used to attack Russia.
“We believe that the United States is deliberately and diligently adding fuel to the fire,” Peskov said.
Reports come after a regional governor said Russian forces now control 70% of Severodonetsk, a key city in Moscow’s efforts to complete the takeover of Donbass, where Ukrainian and Russian-backed separatists have been fighting for years and where separatists already hold sections of territory.
Luhansk Governor Sergei Haidai said in a statement in the Telegram news release that some Ukrainian troops had withdrawn from the city, although he later told the Associated Press that the remaining troops were fighting in the streets.
The only other city in Luhansk that the Russians have not yet taken, Lisichansk, is still “completely” under Ukrainian control, he said – but will probably be the next.
“If the Russians manage to take full control of Severodonetsk within two to three days, they will start deploying artillery and mortars and shelling Lisichansk more intensely,” Haidai said.
Meanwhile, Zelenski. said the country lost between 60 and 100 soldiers a day in the fighting and another 500 were wounded.
He told the American television channel Newsmax on Tuesday night that “the most difficult situation is in eastern Ukraine and in southern Donetsk and Luhansk,” the two regions that make up Donbass.
In southern Ukraine, a regional governor spoke more positively, saying Russian troops were withdrawing and blowing up bridges to prevent a possible Ukrainian offensive. Vitaly Kim, the governor of the Nikolaev area, told in reports in Telegram on Wednesday that Russia is in defense.
“They are afraid of a counterattack by the Ukrainian army,” Kim wrote. He did not specify where the retreat was taking place. The parts of the Nikolaev region that have been held by Russian forces in recent days are close to the large Russian-controlled city of Kherson.
Zelensky said in his evening address that there had been “some success in the Kherson direction” for Ukraine.
___
Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Juras Karmanau of Lviv, Ukraine, and Lolita S. Baldor of Washington contributed to this report.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war
Add Comment