- Ukraine says it needs more guns, calls for sanctions
- Western allies this week agreed to provide tanks
- Russia says US president holds key to ending fighting
NEAR VUHLEDAR, Ukraine, January 27 (Portal) – Ukraine on Friday fought Russian troops trying to breach its lines in the east and north-east, and artillery bombardments intensified after western allies of the government of Kyiv had promised they would send them tanks to repel the invaders.
Kyiv said fierce fighting was ongoing a day after at least 11 people were killed in rocket and drone strikes, which Ukraine saw as a response to promises by key allies to send it tanks.
After weeks of bickering, Germany and the United States said this week they would send dozens of modern tanks to Ukraine to help push back Russian forces and pave the way for other countries to follow suit.
Poland gave Ukraine another boost on Friday by promising another 60 tanks on top of the already pledged 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks.
Ukraine has been promised a total of 321 heavy tanks by several countries, said Ukraine’s Ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, on Friday on BFM television.
Ukraine has also requested US F16 fighter jets. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was aware of Ukraine’s request, but added, “We don’t have any additional weapons systems today that we could talk to.”
Both warring factions are expected to launch spring offensives, although Washington has advised Ukraine to wait until the latest weapons are in place and training is in place – a process expected to take several months.
Moscow accused US President Joe Biden of prolonging the war by arming Kiev. Ukraine says the only way to end the war is for allies to give it the guns to win it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation on the front lines remains extremely acute, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region.
In a speech Friday night, Zelenskyy said Russian forces were not only storming Ukrainian positions but also destroying surrounding towns and villages.
In the village of Bohoiavlenka in the Donetsk region, soldiers said fighting around the nearby town of Vuhledar had intensified, with Russian troops constantly trying to advance and capture it.
Vuhledar has come under intense shelling over the past 24 hours, with seven buildings and two schools damaged, Yevhen Nazarenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Army’s 68th Brigade, told Portal.
“They constantly use artillery fire, aviation. There isn’t a single quiet minute here,” he said.
Thick black smoke rose over Bohoiavlenka and explosions were heard in the background. Some houses were damaged.
Oleh Synehubov, governor of northeastern Kharkiv region, said fierce fighting along the frontline there continued, but Ukrainian forces held out.
[1/12] A local resident carries staff home from a neighbor’s house damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hlevakha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. Portal/Valentyn Ogirenko
ENERGY SHORTAGE
Millions of Ukrainians faced power shortages after Thursday’s rocket and drone strikes, the latest of which targeted power plants and deprived people of heat, light and water.
Russian air strikes hit five high-voltage substations in the central, southern and southwestern regions on Thursday, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. Ukraine will need an additional $17 billion in funding for energy repairs, demining and infrastructure reconstruction this year, he added.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with intensive airstrikes far from the front lines about weekly since October. According to Kyiv, the attacks serve no military purpose and aim to harm civilians, a war crime. Moscow says the strikes are intended to reduce Ukraine’s combat capability.
The recent strikes have been focused on “facilities operating Ukraine’s defense industrial complex and transportation system,” it said. “The objectives of the massive attack have been achieved. All assigned targets have been neutralized.”
After Ukraine reclaimed land in the second half of 2022, front lines have largely been frozen for more than two months as Russia tries to gain ground in the east and protect a land corridor it has seized in southern Ukraine.
Oleskandr Musiyenko, head of the Military and Strategic Research Center of Ukraine, said Russia is sending reinforcements, mostly conscripts, to block Ukrainian advances.
“But they don’t have the level of artillery and tank support that they had on February 24,” Musiyenko told Ukrainian TV, referring to the 2022 date of the invasion of Moscow.
ELIMINATE CHILDREN
Kyiv accuses Moscow of deporting both children and adults from occupied territories and giving them Russian passports.
Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN refugee agency, said this violates “the basic principles of child protection in situations of war” and that Russia must stop it.
Japan on Friday tightened sanctions, expanded an export ban list and froze assets of Russian officials and facilities.
But Ukraine’s hopes that the European Union would impose sanctions over nuclear power were vetoed by Hungary. Hungary has a Russian-built nuclear power plant that it plans to expand.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said it will summon the Hungarian ambassador to complain about “unacceptable” remarks by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Ukraine. A ministry spokesman said Orban had told reporters Ukraine was a no man’s land and compared it to Afghanistan.
Russia stepped up its own crackdown on Western entities, with communications regulator Roskomnadzor saying it blocked CIA and FBI websites.
Russia says it launched its “military special operation” to repel a hostile West. Ukraine and its allies say the invasion was an unprovoked act of aggression.
Reporting by Portal bureaus; Writing from Timothy Heritage; Edited by Angus MacSwan, Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.