Ukraine was the target this Thursday, January 26, of new large-scale Russian bombardments, which left at least 11 dead and 11 injured and caused power outages, the day after the decision of the West to deliver heavy tanks to the Ukrainian army.
Last Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called for the supply of these armored vehicles as soon as possible, his Ministry of Defense warning that Russian troops, “outnumbered”, “intensified” fighting in eastern Ukraine.
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In Bakhmout, at the epicenter of the clashes in eastern Ukraine, Lisa, a doctor, regretted this Thursday morning with AFP the Western procrastination on the tanks, believing that the green light “should have been given earlier and for a larger amount” of these materials. “But, of course, we are very grateful for what we have achieved”she added.
55 missile shots
In the immediate future, “eleven people were injured and, unfortunately, 11 others died”Ukrainian relief spokesman Oleksandr Khorounejy said on television, according to whom the greatest damage is in the kyiv region.
A previous local toll reported one dead and two injured in the capital, according to its mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny, Russia on Thursday fired 55 missiles at Ukraine and “47 were destroyed, including 20” on the outskirts of Kyiv. Ukraine also said it shot down 24 Iranian-made Shahed explosive drones overnight.
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power cuts “emergency” were carried out in Kyiv and other regions after energy sites were “affected”Russia trying to cause “a systemic failure” of the national network, according to the Minister of Energy, German Galushchenko. “The situation remains under control”, however, assured Prime Minister Denys Chmygal. In Odessa (southwest), despite ” difficulties “power was restored at 2 p.m. ” hospitals “ and “the other essential infrastructures of the city”announced the private electricity company DTEK.
The strikes near this major port city took place shortly before the head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, arrived there in the morning to discuss with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kouleba.
A “direct engagement in the conflict” of the West
After a series of military setbacks on the ground in late summer and fall, the Kremlin in October began regularly hitting Ukraine’s transformers and power plants, each time immersing millions of civilians in the dark and the cold. This new wave of bombardments comes the day after the green light from Washington and Berlin for the transfer of dozens of heavy tanks to kyiv, an unprecedented decision in eleven months of war. Germany expects to deliver the first promised Leopard 2s at the end of March or beginning of April.
Volodymyr Zelensky, according to which it is a “important step for the final victory”, thanked his allies. But he noted that ” the key “ success was now “speed and volume” deliveries, kyiv asking for hundreds of tanks to be able to begin the reconquest of the territories under occupation in the East and the South.
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Fighter planes and long-range missiles, so many weapons that the West has so far refused to provide, for fear of provoking a military escalation. Already, the Kremlin considers the delivery of tanks to be proof of the“direct involvement in the conflict” of Westerners. And “we see that [cet engagement} grandit », a relevé ce jeudi face à la presse le porte-parole de la présidence russe, Dmitri Peskov. « Nous ne sommes pas en guerre avec la Russie et aucun de nos partenaires ne l’est », a répliqué la porte-parole du ministère français des Affaires étrangères, Anne-Claire Legendre.
« La livraison d’équipements militaires dans le cadre de l’exercice de sa légitime défense […] does not constitute co-belligerence., she argued to the press. This clarification also comes after an awkward statement by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock who, while her country has been widely criticized for its procrastination, said on Wednesday: “We are fighting in a war against Russia and not among ourselves. »
The abandonment of Soledar
For now in the East, ‘Fighting escalates’, said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar last Wednesday evening. Russian forces are there “outnumbered”she said, citing the area of Bakhmout, which Moscow troops have been trying to seize for several months, but also that around Vougledar, a locality southwest of Donetsk.
In addition, Ukraine admitted on Wednesday that it had to abandon Soledar – northeast of Bakhmout –, which the Russians had been claiming to have taken for a week. According to a sergeant, who goes by the nom de guerre “Alkor”, “The battle was tough” because the Ukrainians were less numerous. “We shoot, again and again, but after five minutes another wave of 20 enemies comes at us”he says. “Their number is enormous. They use their soldiers as cannon fodder. »
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia seems to be stepping up offensives on the front line to “disperse” Ukrainian forces in order to “to create the conditions for a decisive offensive operation”.
