Posted on April 3, 2022 at 2:09 am in Russia Ukraine
On Saturday, April 2nd, Ukrainian forces announced that they had retaken all areas around Kyiv and claimed full control of the capital region for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion that began on February 24th. Meanwhile, Russian forces appear to be gradually concentrating in the east, consistent with Moscow’s claims of conquering Donbass, where they are already stepping up their attacks.
According to the Institute for War Research, Russia’s main efforts are currently concentrated on the port city of Mariupol, which has been under siege for weeks, and on strengthening control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukrainian forces have repelled several largescale attacks in Donbass and claim to have destroyed nearly 70 Russian vehicles. Russian forces will likely need a long operational hiatus to integrate reinforcements into existing force structures in eastern Ukraine and allow for successful operations. L’British Secret Servicehas seen a surge in Russian activity in southeastern Ukraine over the past week, but Ukrainian forces manage to thwart Moscow.
The Lithuanian President, meanwhile, has announced that the Baltic country has stopped importing natural gas from Russia and can now rely on supplies from other countries to meet its energy needs. He said the move sets an example for other European Union members who depend heavily on Russian energy to power their economies. Lithuania borders the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and was once entirely dependent on Russian gas imports, but thanks to the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in 2014, it has started to break away from its dependency on Russia. Despite being a small country with only 2.8 million inhabitants and dependent on trade rather than industry, Lithuania is the largest economy in the Baltic States and also a member of the Eurozone. The move to halt imports of Russian gas therefore has geopolitical significance as it sets a precedent for the EU.
The Pentagon briefed Congress on a $300 million military aid package to be made available to Ukraine. The list of weapons includes laserguided missiles, tactical drones, and “nonstandard” weapons and ammunition, a term the Defense Ministry typically uses to refer to Sovietdesigned weapons used by Ukrainian troops, including tanks . The decision was taken at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and it is also the first time Washington has helped transfer tanks since the beginning of the war.
The official said transfers would begin soon but refused to say how many tanks would be sent or which countries they would be arriving from. They will allow Ukraine to conduct longrange artillery strikes against Russian targets in Donbass, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly. The aid package will also include Puma drones, night vision and thermal imaging devices, antidrone devices, encrypted radios, medical supplies and commercial satellite imaging services.
The military equipment will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program that allows goods to be purchased through commercial vendors rather than being delivered by existing US military escorts. “This decision underscores the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in support of its heroic efforts to stave off Russia’s chosen war,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who pointed out that the US has done so since the beginning of the war The Biden administration has pledged over $2.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including over $1.6 billion in security assistance since the Russian invasion began.
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Sofia Cecinini
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