West Ramps Up Arms Deliveries to Ukraine as War Rages

Date: 02 April 2022 - 22:46

News ID: ۱۰۱۱۷۳

KIEV (Dispatches) -- Missiles hit cities in the east of the Ukrainian capital Saturday after Moscow accused Kiev of carrying out a helicopter attack against a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod.
Media reports said Russian missiles hit Poltava and Kremenchuk early Saturday, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings.
Local officials said at least four missiles struck Poltava, while three Russian planes attacked industrial facilities in Kremenchuk.
Russian missiles also hit Dnipro region in southwestern Ukraine, wounding two people and causing significant damage.
The latest strikes took place on the 38th day of a Russian “special military operation” ordered by President Vladimir Putin on February 24.
They came a day after Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out what appeared to be Kiev’s first airstrike on Russian soil since the conflict began.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said he would neither confirm nor deny a Ukrainian role.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had ordered the military to strengthen the country’s western borders so that no one would ever think of launching an attack.
Peskov told the main television network in neighboring Belarus that unnamed nations were strengthening their military potential near Russia’s western borders.
The British military intelligence said Ukrainian forces continued to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kiev.

The head of the European Parliament visited Kiev on Friday, saying the assembly would support Ukraine’s efforts to start the process of joining the European Union.
The Pentagon announced allotting $300 million in “security assistance” for Ukraine, adding to the $1.6 billion Washington has pledged since Russia’s military operation.
The package includes laser-guided rocket systems, drones, ammunition, night-vision devices, tactical secure communications systems, medical supplies and armored vehicles.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed “additional capabilities” to help the Ukrainian military, the White House said in a statement after the call.
In mid-March, Congress passed a funding bill that included $13.6 billion for “humanitarian and military aid” to Ukraine and NATO allies in Eastern Europe.
Shortly after, Biden announced $1 billion in new security assistance to Ukraine.
Citing a U.S. official, the New York Times reported on Friday that the United States would work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to bolster its defenses in the Donbas region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Minister Liz Truss discussed additional possible actions to ratchet up their response to the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday that Berlin is considering buying a missile defense system from the occupying regime of Israel or the U.S. to defend against perceived threats including Russian Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad.
China said it was not doing anything “to circumvent” sanctions imposed on Russia, following warnings from EU officials that any attempt to aid Moscow’s war in Ukraine could damage economic ties.
“We oppose sanctions and the effects of these sanctions also risk spilling to the rest of the world,” said Wang Lutong, director-general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s department of European affairs, at a press briefing.
Wang said China’s normal trade with Moscow “should not be affected”.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said Friday Beijing would seek peace in Ukraine but this would be on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance on Russia.
President Xi Jinping said he hoped the EU would treat China “independently”, in a reference to Europe’s close ties with the United States.
India’s finance minister said New Delhi would continue to purchase crude from Russia as its people required oil at a discount after the surge in global prices.
India has already started buying oil from Russia, Nirmala Sitharaman said, adding that the transition to gas was challenging as supplies had reduced.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited New Delhi to get support from the country after U.S. and British officials pressed India to avoid undermining sanctions.
Lavrov praised India, saying Moscow and Delhi would find ways to circumvent “illegal” Western sanctions and continue to trade.
Russia is the biggest supplier of defense equipment to India and Lavrov said the two countries would use a rupee-ruble mechanism to trade oil, military hardware and other goods.