- Boris Pistorius is the new German Defense Minister
- Berlin stops tanks from other European allies
- The death toll in Dnipro rises to 44
DNIPRO, Ukraine/Kyiv, Jan 17 (Portal) – Ukraine on Tuesday took a step closer to winning the fleet of modern main battle tanks it hopes could turn the tide of the war against Russia after Germany, the big High-flyers of the West, announced this as the first item on the agenda of his new defense minister.
In downtown Dnipro, authorities have ended a search for survivors in the ruins of an apartment building destroyed in Russian rocket attacks on Saturday.
Forty-four people were killed in the attack, the deadliest for civilians in a three-month Russian missile bombing campaign, and 20 are still missing. 79 people were injured and 39 rescued from the rubble.
Nearly 11 months after Russia invaded, Kyiv says a fleet of Western main battle tanks would give its troops the mobile firepower to rout Russian troops in crucial battles in 2023.
German-made Leopard main battle tanks, the workhorses of armies across Europe, are widely viewed as the only plausible option available in sufficient numbers. However, they may not be delivered from Berlin without permission, which has so far been opposed to them.
As Western allies meet at a US airbase in Germany on Friday to pledge military support for Ukraine, Berlin is under intense pressure to withdraw its objections this week in what would be one of the most momentous shifts in Western aid yet.
The decision lies on the desk of Germany’s new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who was named on Tuesday to replace Christine Lambrecht, who quit after missteps including a cheerful New Year’s message about the war that opponents called deaf.
“If the person is declared defense minister, that is the first question that has to be decided specifically,” German Economics Minister Robert Habeck told Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday before the appointment was announced.
In his first statements in office, regional politician Pistorius, who is close to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, did not mention any weapons for Ukraine: “I know the importance of the task,” he said in a statement. “It’s important to me to involve the soldiers closely and take them with me.”
Pistorius will meet US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday ahead of Friday’s major Allied gathering at Ramstein Air Force Base.
Germany was wary of approving weapons that could be viewed as escalation. But allies are increasingly arguing that the concern is misplaced as Russia shows no signs of retreating from its attack on its neighbor.
Britain broke the taboo on heavy tanks over the weekend and pledged a squadron of its challengers. But it has too few to form the basis of a Ukrainian force. Washington’s Abrams tanks run on turbine engines, which consume too much fuel for Ukraine to deploy in large numbers.
That leaves the Leopards, which Germany manufactured by the thousands during the Cold War and are now used by armies across Europe. Poland and Finland have already announced that they will send leopards if Berlin issues the re-export permit.
[1/5] A view shows a kitchen in an apartment block badly damaged by a Russian missile attack amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine January 15, 2023. Portal/Yan Dobronosov
“We hope and try to organize greater support for Ukraine. We hope that some partners, allies, will give Ukraine tanks,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
As a sign of his commitment to Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeyer on Tuesday and a video question-and-answer session with German students. He interrupted the latter to take what he said was an urgent call from front-line troops.
CUDDLY TOYS AT THE MEMORIAL
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced from their homes since Russia launched a so-called “military special operation” in Ukraine in February last year.
Ukrainian forces drove back Russian troops in the second half of 2022, but over the past two months front lines have largely been frozen, although both sides have suffered heavy casualties in relentless fighting. Ukrainian officials say tanks are key to breaking the standoff.
Russia claims it took the small mining town of Soledar on the outskirts of the eastern city of Bakhmut last week. Kyiv says fighting is still going on there: “Our units are in Soledar and are constantly shooting at the enemy,” said Serhiy Cherevaty, a Ukrainian military spokesman.
Moscow, on the other hand, since October has turned to a tactic of raining missiles far from the front lines on Ukrainian cities, mostly targeting power infrastructure.
Russia wants to limit Ukraine’s combat capability; According to Kyiv, the attacks serve no military purpose and are intended to harm civilians, a war crime.
In Dnipro, residents left flowers and stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial near the block of flats destroyed during the wave of Russian missile attacks on Saturday.
A soldier staggered away, wiping tears after laying flowers on the seat of a transport shelter that became a temporary memorial to the victims. A candle burned next to the growing pile of toys and bouquets of flowers.
“We came here to look, to pay our respects. It’s very tough, such a shame about the lives lost,” said 63-year-old Viktoria.
Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians and blames Ukraine’s air defense for the missile that hit the block of flats. Kyiv says it was hit by a notoriously inaccurate Russian anti-ship missile, for which Ukraine has no defense.
Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24 and said Kiev’s close ties with the West posed a security threat. Ukraine and its Western allies are calling it an unprovoked war to conquer land and impose Russia’s will on its neighbor.
writing by Peter Graff; Edited by Nick Macfie and Alex Richardson
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.