The first heavy battle tanks, the British Challenger, arrived in Ukraine. Germany also supplied 18 Leopard tanks.
The first heavy tanks promised by Ukraine’s allies arrive on the ground. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov announced the arrival of British Challenger 2 tanks on Monday, March 27. A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian ministry, Iryna Zolotar, confirmed to AFP that these tanks “are already in Ukraine” without mentioning this time to specify the exact number.
Franceinfo looks back at the highlights of the day on the war front.
The first British and German tanks are delivered
The first British Challenger tanks have arrived in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense announced. Oleksiï Reznikov stated that “British Challengers, American Strykers and Cougars and German Marders” were “added to the Ukrainian units”. The minister posted a photo of these vehicles in his Facebook post without saying exactly when they arrived.
Earlier in the day, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that 18 Leopard tanks had been delivered to Kiev. “Our tanks arrived in the hands of our Ukrainian friends as promised and on time,” added Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. I’m sure they can make a difference on the ground.”
Zelensky and Grossi together before the IAEA chief’s visit to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, met Monday at a hydroelectric power station in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine. The second is expected in the coming days at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant for his second visit there since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. “Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from (plant) and adjacent areas, any initiative to restore nuclear safety is doomed to failure,” President Zelenskyy warned, according to comments from the Ukrainian presidency.
Two dead and more than 30 injured in a bomb attack in Sloviansk
Russian missiles slammed into the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk on Monday, killing two people in their car, injuring more than 30 others and destroying buildings. According to the police, the two dead were traveling near the city center at the time of the bombing. “These are accidental victims,” Dmytro Nogin, a senior Kramatorsk district police officer, told reporters. The police report showed 32 wounded, including five seriously, while Mayor Vadym Lyakh counted a total of 36 in this town, 40 kilometers as the crow flies from Bakhmout, where Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces are locked in a bitter struggle.
A town at the front evacuated
The administration of the city of Avdiïvka on Monday announced the evacuation of municipal employees from this frontline location in eastern Ukraine and regularly bombed by Russian forces. “Avdiivka is looking more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies (…). Therefore, a difficult decision was made to evacuate (…) city employees who at least tried to maintain the city’s cleanliness and vitality.” This was announced by Vitaliy Barabash, head of the local military administration, on social media.
He “strongly recommends” leaving the city, “because Russian missiles and projectiles spare nothing and nobody,” he added. Russian troops have been trying for months to take Avdiivka, which has been on the front line since 2014 and the start of the war between Ukrainian forces and Kremlin-led separatists.
Despite criticism, Moscow is sticking to plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus
Russia said on Monday that it would not change its plans to station “tactical” nuclear weapons in Belarus, despite widespread criticism from Western countries. “Of course, such a reaction cannot affect Russia’s plans,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that preparations for using such weapons in Belarus would begin as early as next month.