The Ukrainian army continues its counter-offensive, but calls for more resources to accelerate, initially with fighter jets.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive continues. But to speed up its breakthrough in the east, the Ukrainian army is demanding more resources. The Army Commander-in-Chief specifically calls for F-16 fighter jets. At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy asks his troops to strengthen the border with Belarus after the arrival of the Wagner group in that country. Here’s what you’ll remember from that day.
The head of the Ukrainian army calls for fighter jets
In an interview published by the Washington Post, the Ukrainian army’s commander-in-chief Valery Zalouzhny estimates that the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive is being limited by a lack of armament, especially combat aircraft. “It’s getting on my nerves,” he says of Westerners who complain that Kiev is slow to move against the Russians, even though he wishes they would deliver weapons more quickly.
In order to be able to compete with the Russian Air Force, Ukraine needs the promised F-16 fighter jets as soon as possible, emphasizes the colonel general. “We don’t need 120 planes. I will not threaten the entire planet. A small number will suffice,” he said again in the columns of the American daily. “But they are necessary, there is no other solution.”
After Wagner’s arrival, Zelenskyi orders the border with Belarus to be strengthened
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered security on the border with Belarus to be strengthened in the face of the arrival of fighters from the Wagner paramilitary group in that country after a failed uprising in Russia. He explained that he had been briefed on the situation in Belarus by Ukrainian and foreign intelligence services, as well as by border guards.
In a previous message, the President of Ukraine mentioned “measures to strengthen this area” without specifying them. After his failed uprising in Russia a week ago, the head of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner agreed to go into exile in Belarus thanks to the mediation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Moscow ally.
Russia will be “stronger” after Wagner’s rebellion, says Lavrov
Russia will be “stronger” after the failed Wagner Group uprising that shook Russian power last week, his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured. “Russia has always come out of all the difficulties stronger and stronger (…) That will be the case this time too. We already have the feeling that this process has started,” he said at a press conference in Moscow.
Wagner’s uprising ended on Saturday night with a deal that saw Evguéni Prigojine banished to Belarus. No sanctions were announced against the mutineers and the security services said they had dropped charges against them, which many Western analysts and officials saw as a sign of Kremlin weakness. Since then, the authorities have been trying to bring about a return to normal after these events.