France will send armored fighting vehicles AMX-10 RC to Ukraine after a call between the presidents of the countries.
“This is the first time that western-made armored vehicles will be supplied in support of the Ukrainian army,” a French official said.
The official did not provide any further information on the number of vehicles to be shipped and the time of delivery.
AMX-10 is an armored reconnaissance vehicle with high mobility and a carrying capacity of four crew members.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked French President Emmanuel Macron in a post on Twitter “for the decision to transfer light tanks and Bastion APCs to Ukraine”.
France has supplied a number of Caesar howitzer artillery pieces to Ukraine and in October said it would provide air defense weapons in the face of ongoing attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.
Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Wednesday January 4th:
Germany’s Baerbock demands more weapons for Ukraine
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has nothing in mind other than destroying neighboring Ukraine.
At a conference in Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, Baerbock said the European Union had tried everything to stop the war in Ukraine but needed to do more.
She said Putin’s stance is why it is “important to keep the supply of arms going so that Ukraine can defend itself and protect people’s lives.”
“Therefore, we must stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary,” she said.
While the German Greens, of which Baerbock is a member, have traditionally taken a pacifist stance on military action, the war in Ukraine has taken on an increasingly combative tone.
Ukraine is at the top of Germany’s political agenda for 2023
To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videos
In recent months, Germany has delivered a modern Iris-T anti-aircraft system designed to repel Russian missile and drone attacks. Three more systems are to be delivered to the Ukraine before the end of this year. But senior Ukrainian officials have criticized Germany for being reluctant to provide military equipment and heavy weapons in particular.
Germany: Scholz stands by Defense Minister Lambrecht
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a member of the SPD, has pledged his support to his SPD Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht despite her controversial New Year’s Eve speech.
“The chancellor works well and trustingly with all his cabinet colleagues. Of course, that also applies to the minister mentioned,” said Scholz, referring to Lambrecht.
During a New Year’s Eve speech posted to her social media account, Lambrecht reflected on “the war raging in the middle of Europe,” a reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Her remarks came as fireworks and explosions went off in the background.
Several members of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), including chairman Friedrich Merz, called for Lambrecht’s resignation.
Injured Russian official sends French howitzer shrapnel to Macron
Former Russian Deputy Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who was injured in eastern Ukraine last month, said he sent shrapnel in an envelope to French President Emmanuel Macron. He claimed that shrapnel from a French howitzer caused his wounds
Rogozin wrote to French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy regarding the envelope, and Rogozin published the contents of the letter on Telegram.
“In this envelope, along with my letter, you can see a fragment of a shell from a French 155-mm artillery piece Caesar,” Rogozin said in the letter.
“It punctured my right shoulder and lodged in the fifth cervical vertebra, just a millimeter from killing me, rendering me an invalid,” he added.
Rogozin was reportedly hit by the shrapnel in Donetsk, with the former Russian official claiming the attack happened during a “work meeting” at a hotel restaurant.
Poor education is hampering Russian efforts, report says
According to researchers at the US-based Institute of War (IOW), Russian military bloggers blame the mobilization of underskilled soldiers for artillery and tank crew roles for some of Moscow’s recent problems on the battlefield.
The IOW notes that since partial mobilization began in September, Russian forces have suffered significant artillery and armored vehicle losses in operations in Ukraine.
“The Russian armed forces devoted too little time to training mobilized personnel for service in the branches in which they had previously served before sending them to the front lines,” the IOW report said. “They certainly didn’t have time to train them in additional areas of expertise.”
“Putting poorly trained artillerymen into infantry units without training them for infantry combat missions will likely reduce them to little more than cannon fodder.”
The IOW commented on a Ukrainian report that Russian forces in eastern Ukraine are currently firing artillery shells at about a third the rate of summer 2022. It speculated that the reduced Russian artillery fire was probably due to depletion of ammunition supplies.
UK: Munitions storage likely added to Makiivka death toll
Britain’s Defense Ministry says the death toll in a Ukrainian attack on a building in the occupied town of Makiivka that killed a large number of Russian soldiers was likely compounded by the storage of ammunition there.
The building was completely destroyed and Russian officials confirmed that 89 Russian employees were killed.
“Given the extent of the damage, there is a realistic possibility that munitions were stored near troop barracks that detonated during the strike and caused secondary explosions,” the British report said.
“The Russian military had records of unsafe ammunition stockpiling well before the current war, but this incident shows how unprofessional practices contribute to Russia’s high casualty rate,” the UK ministry added.
The building was hit when Ukrainian forces fired six rockets from a US-supplied HIMARS multiple launch system.
Vigil for Russian soldiers killed in strike in Ukraine
To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 videos
A former pro-Russian separatist commander had also previously said the deaths and injuries were likely worse because ammunition was stored in the former vocational school building. He also said Russia is likely downplaying the number of deaths at the site.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Tuesday its forces killed about 500 mobilized Russian soldiers when they hit the building.
More on the Russia-Ukraine War
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is planning a protracted campaign of drone strikes to demoralize Ukraine. Read this and more of our Tuesday updates here.
The Kremlin is facing unprecedented criticism after one of the deadliest attacks on its troops since the start of the Ukraine war. Kyiv and Russian bloggers claim the death toll is in the hundreds.
The suspected mastermind behind the removal of a mural by graffiti artist Banksy in a Ukrainian city faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry has said.
kb,rc/dj (AFP, dpa, Portal, AP)