Boris Johnson made a surprise trip to Kyiv yesterday to meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, promising a major new influx of British weapons and financial aid to help counter the expected deadly new phase in Russia’s military offensive.
After the meeting, the prime minister said: “Ukraine defied the odds and pushed Russian forces out of Kyiv’s gates, achieving the greatest military feat of the 21st century.
“Because of President Zelensky’s determined leadership and the invincible heroism and courage of the Ukrainian people, Putin’s monstrous goals have been thwarted. Today, I have made it clear that the United Kingdom stands firm with them in this ongoing battle, and we are in it in the long run.
“We are stepping up our own military and economic support and convening a global union to end this tragedy and ensure that Ukraine survives and thrives as a free and sovereign nation.
Last night, number 10 said Britain would send 120 armored vehicles and new Harpoon anti-ship missile systems to Ukraine. The missiles could cause serious damage to Russian warships and could be used to deal with the siege of the Russian fleet in Black Sea ports. The United Kingdom pledged £ 100m in military aid last week, including another 800 anti-tank missiles, more anti-aircraft weapons, suicide drones hovering over the battlefield before attacking a target, and helmets, body armor and night-vision goggles.
Johnson is praised by Zelensky, who contrasts with the promise of delivering vital anti-tank weapons to his army with more timid responses from other NATO members, such as Germany.
A wagon following a rocket attack on a station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Friday, which was used to evacuate civilians. Photo: Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Images
The security situation in the Ukrainian capital has stabilized after Russia withdrew from positions around the city on March 29th to regroup its forces and consolidate territorial gains in southern and eastern Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also visited the Ukrainian capital on Friday, as well as the nearby town of Bucha, where vast evidence shows that civilians were raped and killed by Russian soldiers.
Johnson’s visit comes a day after Zelensky called on Western allies to provide more military aid and tougher sanctions against Russia following a rocket attack on a station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk that killed 52 people, including five children.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has denied responsibility for the strike, but Western intelligence officials say a short-range Russian ballistic missile was fired indiscriminately into the city center. During the attack, the station was full of civilians who were ordered by the Ukrainian government to evacuate the city in the face of the Russian offensive from the southeast.
“I have already left Kramatorsk because when a rocket hit a school very close to my house, we were very scared,” said 17-year-old Sofia Ruban, who fled the Kyiv area with her family.
“When we heard about yesterday’s airstrikes at the station, we were shocked and very sad.”
Russian shelling and rocket attacks have intensified in several areas of eastern Ukraine as Moscow delays its “special military operation” from overthrowing the government to focus on building a corridor connecting Russia’s occupied Crimea with Luhansk and Donetsk – also de facto controlled by Moscow – with the Russian continent.
The besieged city of Mariupol, along with the southern city of Nikolaev, which is facing significant shelling, are the Kremlin’s main targets, the UK Ministry of Defense said.
As trains did not depart from Kramatorsk on Saturday, panicked residents boarded buses or looked for other ways to get out, fearing a series of relentless attacks and occupations by Russian invaders that deliver food shortages, demolished buildings and deaths to other cities. in Ukraine.
Zelenski called the attack on the station the latest example of war crimes by Russian forces, and said it should motivate the West to do more to help his country defend itself. “All global efforts will be focused on establishing every minute who did what, who gave what orders, where the rocket came from, who transported it, who gave the command and how this strike was arranged,” Zelenski said in his evening. video address.
In response to the shelling of Kramatorsk, a curfew came into force in the southern port city of Odessa on Saturday night through Monday night.
Ten humanitarian corridors were agreed on Saturday to evacuate people from hostile areas across the country, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said, but by nightfall it was unclear whether civilians had managed to reach Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Several attempts to evacuate 150,000 people still in Mariupol, which has been under constant fire since February 24, and to import vital supplies such as food and medicine, failed after Russian shelling of safe routes. Two UN agencies have also called for urgent action to help approximately 1,000 seafarers stranded in Ukrainian ports and waters with declining supplies.
The US-based Institute for War Studies said Ukrainian forces maintained control of defensive positions in eastern and southwestern Mariupol, and Russian forces continued to try to redeploy units in eastern Ukraine. “Russian forces are unlikely to allow a Russian breakthrough and face bad morale,” ISW said.
Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the country had “significant losses of troops and this is a huge tragedy for us.”
Conflict may be in danger of turning into a grueling war of attrition. The Pentagon estimates that Russia’s combat power is between 80% and 85% of pre-invasion levels.
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