War between Ukraine and Russia The United States and Spain have announced new shipments of military equipment to Ukraine, while Moscow intensifies its attacks in the south-east of the country.
This is another massive supply of arms to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. US President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the shipment of dozens of howitzers, 144,000 ammunition and drones worth $800 million (€738 million). Spain, for its part, will deliver 200 tons of military equipment, double what it has had since the Russian invasion began on February 24. “A Spanish Navy ship, the Ysabel, left a Spanish port for Poland today,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said during a visit to Kyiv. Eastern European countries, including Slovenia, are also preparing to send weapons and vehicles, including Soviet T-72 tanks. Germany has committed to compensate the materials.
These supplies are intended to enable Ukraine to withstand the new phase of the Russian offensive. Defeated in Kyiv and in the north of the country, leaving cities and villages devastated, the Moscow army is now concentrated in the east of the country. It is attempting to strangle Donbass, where Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces have been clashing since 2014.
On Thursday, Kyiv announced that artillery fire continued along the entire front line. There was intense fighting in the Izium region, and “continuous shelling” in Popasna and Rubizhne in the Luhansk region. “Russian forces are now advancing from base areas in the Donbass towards the city of Kramatorsk, which remains the target of persistent missile attacks,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday. According to the Institute for the Study of War, “Russian forces have made minor progress in the current offensive in eastern Ukraine, taking control of several small towns and advancing on strategic towns near the Popasna and Rubizhne front lines”.
“Don’t let a fly pass”
The strikes also continued in the south of the country, particularly in Mykolaiv on the road to Odessa. Russian President Vladimir Putin also announced that his army had taken Mariupol, a martyred city devastated by bombing and fighting. “The end of military operations to liberate Mariupol is a success,” he told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a televised meeting.
In reality, Ukrainian fighters from the Azov regiment are still entrenched in the Azovstal metallurgical complex and are refusing to surrender. “I consider the planned attack on the industrial area to be inappropriate. I’m ordering it to be canceled,” Putin said, adding: “Block this whole area so that no fly can get by.” According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there are still about 1,000 civilians, including women and children, and hundreds of wounded at the steel mill . The mayor of Mariupol himself mentioned “300 to 1,000 civilians”.
Since the beginning of the invasion, evacuations of civilians have remained rare, often being called off at the last moment. On Thursday, only three buses were able to reach the city of Zaporizhia, about 250 kilometers northwest. The Russian offensive on the city, which had a population of 450,000 before the war, may have claimed the lives of around 20,000 people, according to local authorities. The fall of Mariupol would allow Moscow to send additional troops to the Donbass.