LONDON (Dispatches) -- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday pledged to provide heavy tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv’s forces “push Russian troops back.”
Sunak made the pledge to supply the tanks and additional artillery systems as a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine,” according to a readout of a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The move makes the UK the first Western power to supply the Ukrainians with main battle tanks.
Ukraine’s European allies have sent Kyiv more than 300 modernized Soviet tanks since the war broke out in February 2022.
But they have so far held off on dispatching the Western-made heavy tanks that Ukraine has repeatedly requested to push forward against Russian invaders.
France on January 4 said it would supply Kyiv with the French-made AMX-10 RC -- a light tank model.
And Poland on Wednesday said it was willing to send Kyiv 14 advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks.
Zelensky thanked the UK on Twitter for making decisions that “will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners.”
Sunak’s formal offer follows reports that he was preparing to sign off on sending four British Army Challenger 2 main battle tanks to eastern Europe immediately, with eight more to follow shortly afterwards.
The prime minister’s office has not yet confirmed the exact numbers of tanks it will send to Kyiv.
A Downing Street spokesman said Sunak and Zelensky agreed on the “need to seize on this moment” after Ukrainian victories had “pushed Russian troops back.”
“The Prime Minister outlined the UK’s ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine, including through the provision of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems,” the spokesman said.
“The Prime Minister and President Zelensky welcomed other international commitments including Poland’s offer to provide a company of Leopard tanks.”
Russia fired a second wave of missiles at Ukraine on Saturday, forcing people to take cover as sirens blared across the country just hours after morning airstrikes that hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Authorities in Mykolaiv, the western city of Lviv and the Black Sea port of Odesa said air defenses were trying to shoot down incoming missiles. Explosions were heard in the central Vynnytsa region, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.
No one was reported hurt following the first wave, but missile debris caused a fire in one place and houses were damaged outside the capital, officials said.
Ukrenergo, which runs the power grid, said its workers were racing to fix the damage and that the network was grappling with a power deficit caused by earlier attacks even though it was -2 Celsius (28 Fahrenheit) in Kyiv, only mildly cold.
DTEK, the biggest private electricity company, introduced emergency blackouts in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Odesa region.
Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Russia’s missiles had likely been fired along a high, looping ballistic trajectory from the north, which would explain why the air raid siren did not sound.
Ukraine is not able to identify and shoot down ballistic missiles, he told the Ukrainska Pravda online outlet.
In Ukraine’s northeast, Oleg Synehubov, Kharkiv’s regional governor, said two S-300 missiles struck the city near the Russian border early on Saturday.
The attacks hit critical energy infrastructure and industrial facilities in the Kharkiv and Chuhuev district of the region, he said.
The strikes on Saturday came as Ukrainian and Russian forces battled for control of Soledar, a small salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine that for days has been the focus of a relentless Russian assault.
Russia said on Friday that its forces had taken control of Soledar, but Kyiv said its troops were still fighting in the town.