The United Kingdom thus becomes the first Western country to commit to sending this type of armored vehicle to Ukraine.
The United Kingdom will deliver “in the coming weeks” 14 heavy tanks to Ukraine, which is insistently demanding Western-made armor to deal with the Russian invasion.
The announcement caused Russian diplomacy to react, which considered that this shipment of arms would “in no way accelerate the end of military hostilities, but only intensify them, causing new victims”, according to a press release from the embassy. of Russia in London on Saturday.
On the front line, the Ukrainian authorities still ensured this weekend that they controlled the small town of Soledar (east) which Moscow claimed to have taken after fierce fighting. A Russian strike on an apartment building in the east left at least 12 dead. And power cuts have been ordered in most parts of the country after fresh attacks on power generation facilities.
“Is it possible to stop the Russian terror? Yes it’s possible. Can we do it other than on the battlefield in Ukraine? Unfortunately, no,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented. “The world must stop this evil,” he said again.
First Western Heavy Tanks
The United Kingdom promised on Saturday the delivery “in the coming weeks” of 14 Challenger 2 heavy tanks to Ukraine.
The delivery reflects “the UK’s ambition to step up its support for Ukraine”, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Mr Zelensky in a phone call, according to a Downing Street statement.
The United Kingdom thus becomes the first country to commit to sending this type of armored vehicle to Ukraine. Mr Zelensky thanked the UK on Twitter for taking decisions that “not only will strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners”.
kyiv had already received from its allies heavy tanks of Soviet design – nearly 300 – but still none of Western manufacture.
Soledar Holds, Assures Kyiv
The town of Soledar, in eastern Ukraine, is still “under Ukrainian control”, assured Saturday the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, noting that “the fighting continues in the city and outside “.
This locality and that close to Bakhmout currently remain the “hottest” points of the conflict, he said on television.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Friday that the “liberation” of Soledar had taken place “on January 12 in the evening”.
Fighting in and around this town has been raging for several months, but its intensity has increased sharply in recent days.
Its capture by the forces of Moscow would constitute a notable victory for Russia, after the series of failures recorded by its troops in recent months.
This article is originally published on nouvelobs.com