The Western camp is taking a symbolic step in its support for Ukraine. After Berlin, Washington announced, this Wednesday, January 25, the delivery of heavy tanks to kyiv, lengthening the list of countries which are preparing to send this type of armament to Ukraine, whereas a few weeks ago still resort to this type of military support was not a preferred option for the West.
This series of decisions comes after intense consultations between Western countries, and while, on the ground, the Ukrainian army admitted to having ceded the town of Soledar, in the east of the country, to the Russians, two weeks after the announcement of its capture by Moscow. kyiv hailed “a historic day”.
After long procrastination, Washington will therefore deliver 31 Abrams tanks to theUkraine, thereby further pushing the boundaries between aid and co-belligerence. To avoid being accused of participating directly in the war, Joe Biden also immediately affirmed that the act did not constitute an “offensive threat against Russia”.
Until recently, the United States said it was not ready to provide its most advanced heavy tanks, the Abrams, to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion, justifying this refusal by questions of maintenance and training. Last week, the Pentagon’s number three, Colin Kahl, pointed out that the Abrams tank was “a very complicated piece of equipment”.
On Wednesday, senior US officials said on condition of anonymity that the United States would train Ukrainians “outside Ukraine” in tank handling. US authorities are working “on mechanisms to deliver the fuel and equipment that Ukraine will need to operate and maintain the Abrams,” one said.
Under pressure for several weeks, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz finally agreed on Wednesday to send 14 Leopard 2 heavy tanks to Ukraine, despite his reluctance, and while affirming that he wanted to avoid “an escalation” which would lead to a war between Russia and NATO. The German government also allowed its Western allies with these German-made armor to do the same. A message heard by Norway, which, a few hours later, also announced that it would donate this type of armament to Ukraine. The Ukrainian presidency hailed this series of decisions as a “decisive” act for the country’s “future victory”.
Moscow, for its part, denounced an “extremely dangerous decision which will bring the conflict to a new level of confrontation”, according to the Russian ambassador in Berlin Sergei Netchaev. “This convinces us once again that Germany, like its closest allies, does not want a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis and wants a permanent escalation,” he said. said again.
“After months of hard fighting […] the Ukrainian armed forces have left “Soledar” to “retreat to prepared positions”, military spokesman for the eastern zone Serguiï Tcherevaty told AFP, refusing however to specify when this retreat took place.
The Russian paramilitary group Wagner announced that it had taken Soledar on January 11, followed by the Russian army on January 13. This small town in the Donetsk region of 11,000 inhabitants before the war, known for its salt mines, is located near Bakhmout, another hot spot in eastern Ukraine.
Soledar’s strategic importance has been disputed, with the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) saying it was “not an operationally significant development”.
A series of senior Ukrainian officials were dismissed from their posts on Tuesday in the wake of a corruption scandal over army supplies, the first scandal of this magnitude since the start of the Russian invasion. A total of five regional governors, four deputy ministers and two heads of a government agency will leave their posts, in addition to the deputy head of the presidential administration and the deputy attorney general.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday evening defended “necessary” decisions to have “a strong state”. “It’s right, it’s necessary for our protection and it helps our rapprochement with the European institutions,” he insisted in his daily address. “All the internal problems that prevent the state from strengthening itself are being resolved and will be even more so” in the future, he underlined.
Two Britons who left as volunteers in Ukraine were killed while attempting a “medical evacuation” from the town of Soledar, the scene of intense clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces, the family of one of them announced on Tuesday. “It is with great sadness that we announce that our beloved Chrissy was killed alongside her colleague Andrew Bagshaw as they attempted a humanitarian evacuation from Soledar in eastern Ukraine,” it said. the family of Christopher Parry in a statement sent by the British Foreign Office.
“He couldn’t resist going to Ukraine in March at the darkest moment at the start of the Russian invasion to help those who needed it most, saving over 400 lives and many abandoned animals.” she added.
Russian athletes should not be able to participate in the Paris Olympics in 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, as Russia invaded Ukraine for eleven months. “I particularly insisted on the fact that Russian athletes should not have their place at the Paris Olympics,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram after a telephone interview with the French head of state.
Russia invaded Ukraine from its territory and that of Belarus on February 24, three days after the closing ceremony of the Beijing-2022 Winter Games, in violation of the Olympic Truce (which extends from one week before the start of the Olympic Games to one week after the end of the Paralympic Games). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) quickly sanctioned Moscow and Minsk. Since then, no international sporting events are organized or supported in Russia or Belarus and no national symbols of these countries are displayed during a sporting event.
