Another hell. Yesterday, a wave of Russian missiles targeting energy infrastructure, but also civilian buildings, fell again on Ukraine. In Kyiv, where sirens sounded only after the attacks, four explosions were heard at first light. They did not cause casualties or significant damage. Similar bombings also affected the oblasts of Lviv (west) and Kharkiv (northeast), which, like nine other regions of the country, suffered power cuts. In Dnipro (center), a missile destroyed a residential building, killing at least nine people and injuring 64.
Also read – War in Ukraine: London to provide tanks, Volodymyr Zelensky hails this ‘good sign’
Moscow claims victory
Cleared on this dark day, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed to the Ukrainian president the upcoming shipment of Challenger 2 heavy tanks. According to media reports across the Channel, it would be 12 armored vehicles. The United Kingdom would thus become the first Western country to supply this type of weaponry to Ukraine.
Will Kyiv’s other allies, whose defense ministers are due to meet at the US Ramstein military base in Germany on Friday, follow suit? This is what the Zelensky administration is asking for. Welcoming the French pledge of ten AMX-10 RCs or the US pledge of 50 Bradleys, Kyiv believes much more is needed to change the current balance of power.
Also read – Svetlana Tikhanovskaia: “A Ukrainian victory would weaken Putin but also Lukashenko”
Indeed, Moscow claimed a rare victory on Friday evening by capturing Soledar, population 10,000 before the conflict. Ukrainian authorities dispute this version, although their troops only appear to be holding on to a few buildings on the outskirts. Russia assures that this capture, led by mercenaries of the Wagner group, will facilitate the offensive against the neighboring town of Bakhmout, on which it has broken its teeth since this summer. But this martyr city of Donbass is still far from fallen. It is true that one of their main supply routes would now be under fire, but the Ukrainians have established several strong defense lines there and have recently brought in reinforcements.
A truce, falsely mentioned by the Russians during the holidays, does not appear to be on the agenda in any case. Elaborating on this observation, an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on good terms with Moscow and Kyiv, yesterday raised the idea of creating “localized cease fire”. A proposal to which neither belligerent reacted.
Source : Le JDD
Source link
