Territorial fighting continues in southern Ukraine, where the Russian army says it carried out “offensive operations” in the Zaporizhia region on Saturday January 21. As a result of this offensive, “units of the Eastern Military District took more advantageous lines and positions,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, without giving further details.
Ukraine continues to deplore the “indecision” of Westerners who are unable to decide on the delivery of heavy tanks, which kyiv urgently demands to defend against Russian attacks. “The indecision of these days kills even more of our fellow citizens,” criticized Mykhaïlo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, on Twitter on Saturday.
Gathered on the American base of Ramstein, in Germany, the allies had announced Friday important new deliveries of weapons. But Berlin continues to block the possibility for the allies to deliver the German heavy tanks Leopard 2 (the most used in the European armies) to the Ukrainians.
The Polish Prime Minister described, this Sunday, January 22, as “unacceptable” Berlin’s refusal to supply these heavy tanks to Ukraine. “Germany’s attitude is unacceptable. It has been almost a year since the war started. Innocent people are dying every day. Russian bombs are wreaking havoc in Ukrainian cities. Civilian objects are attacked, women and children are murdered,” Mateusz Morawiecki told PAP news agency.
Poland, which declares to be ready to deliver 14 Leopard tanks to kyiv, claims to be already in discussion with about fifteen countries on this subject. If Berlin refuses, “we will set up a small coalition of countries ready to donate some of their modern equipment, their modern tanks, to a troubled Ukraine,” said Mateusz Morawiecki.
On Saturday, the three Baltic countries also united in a rare public criticism to increase the pressure on Berlin. “We, the Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian foreign ministers, ask Germany to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine now,” Latvian Minister Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter. “This is necessary to stop Russian aggression, help Ukraine and quickly restore peace in Europe”, he added, stressing that “Germany, as the leading European power, has a special responsibility in this regard. “.
Further criticism came from a Republican US senator visiting kyiv on Friday January 20. “I’m sick of the shitty show around who’s going to send tanks and when,” Lindsey Graham tweeted. “To the Germans: send tanks to Ukraine because they need them. To the Biden administration: send American tanks so that others follow our example.” This last remark refers to the reluctance of the United States to send their Abrams heavy tanks to Ukraine for the time being.
Russia is preparing for possible “air attacks” and wants to be able to protect its infrastructure, while Ukraine is arming itself more and more heavily. The Kremlin announced Saturday, January 21, exercises in the Moscow region, “with the personnel of the anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Western Military District, to repel air attacks against important military, industrial and administrative infrastructure”. According to information provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense in a statement, about 150 soldiers have been trained in the use of “S-300 anti-aircraft missiles”, without specifying when.
Asked whether Russia feared Moscow was a target, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer on Friday, referring the question to the Defense Ministry. Russia has experienced in recent months several attacks attributed to Ukraine, whether sabotage or drone strikes and artillery fire on border regions.
