After taking the decision not to deliver heavy tanks to Ukraine at this stage, Germany is singled out by several European allies of kyiv, while the Russians are on the offensive.
In a rare public criticism, Baltic foreign ministers on Saturday morning urged Berlin “to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine now”pleading “special responsibility” of Germany, “leading European power”.
Ukraine, for its part, deplored “general indecision” of its Western allies. “The indecision of these days kills even more of our fellow citizens”regretted Mykhaïlo Podoliak on Twitter, calling on kyiv’s allies to “think faster”. “You will help Ukraine with the necessary weapons anyway and realize that there is no other option to end the war”he pleaded.
Moscow newspaper: “Do not sink into despair”, Navalny’s message
Direct criticism of Berlin also came from a Republican US senator, Lindsey Graham, after a visit to kyiv on Friday. “I’ve had enough of the ‘crappy show’ around who is going to send tanks and when”he lambasted on Twitter.
“To the Germans: send tanks to Ukraine because they need them. (…) To the Biden administration: send American tanks for others to follow our example. »
A real advantage for kyiv
At Ramstein in Germany, the fifty or so countries represented did not agree on Friday on sending heavy tanks to Ukraine, despite repeated requests from kyiv.
Quoted by The Voice of America, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksiï Reznikov, however indicated that Ukrainian soldiers would soon train on Leopards in Poland: “We will start with that, and we will see for the rest”.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, for his part, temporized, stressing that there was always “a window of opportunity between now and spring” to deliver Western tanks.
The offensive of “illegal” Russian spies in Europe
According to Russia, sending such devices would not change anything on the ground, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accusing the West of de facto maintaining the“delusion” of a possible Ukrainian victory.
But for many experts, however, modern heavy tanks would be a real advantage for kyiv in the battles in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is back on the offensive after suffering heavy setbacks in the fall.
“Glory to our heroes”
In kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky and Olena Zelenska, as well as many Ukrainian leaders paid a last tribute on Saturday morning to the Minister of the Interior, Denys Monastyrsky, who died on Wednesday in a helicopter crash with 13 other people.
Inside the building where the ceremony took place, located very close to Maidan Square in the heart of kyiv, seven coffins were brought, carried by men dressed in military uniform. The blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was placed on each coffin, and the black and white portraits of the victims next to it.
In 2023, the world facing the challenge of a polycrisis
“Glory to our heroes”, launched in heart those present, at the end of the speech of a moderator. Outside, the Ukrainian and European flags were at half mast. A heavy police presence was visible all around the building.
The funeral of Denys Monastyrsky is to be held later Saturday at a historic cemetery in the center of the Ukrainian capital.
Increase in the intensity of the clashes
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian occupation authorities said on Friday reported a “sharp increase in intensity” clashes in the Zaporizhia region, “across the entire front line”. “This had never happened before”said a leader of the regional occupation authority, installed by Moscow, Vladimir Rogov.
In its morning bulletin on Saturday, the Ukrainian army said it had suffered the day before ” shootings “ in ten villages in the region. The line of contact between the Ukrainian and Russian armies in this southern region has largely not moved for several months and no major fighting took place there, unlike the Kherson regions, until November , and Donetsk, the current epicenter of the clashes.
Markiyan Kamysh and the horror of war
Around Bakhmout, fighting remained intense Friday between Ukrainian and Russian armies, supported by the paramilitary group Wagner, designated Friday as an international criminal organization by the United States.
According to a senior American official, Ukraine should focus on a major counter-offensive in the spring, and not on the defense of this city which is now largely devastated and almost emptied of its population.
But Bakhmout has become a political issue and a major symbol: Volodymyr Zelensky went to the front line in December to galvanize his troops, while Russia would like to announce success after a series of setbacks in the fall.
