Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – The United States and Germany have vowed to send Ukraine some of the most advanced weapons to date to shoot down planes and destroy artillery, as Russian forces leading an offensive on eastern Wednesday approached a key city.
Germany said Wednesday it would supply Ukraine with modern anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, and the United States plans to unveil a new package of weapons later in the day that includes high-tech medium-range missile systems.
The United States is trying to find a balance by helping Ukraine fight fierce Russian artillery shelling, while not providing weapons that would allow Ukraine to hit targets deep in Russia and escalate the war.
The Kremlin has accused the United States of “fueling the fire.”
Western weapons have been crucial to Ukraine’s success in stopping a much larger and better-equipped Russian army, thwarting its efforts to storm the capital and forcing Moscow to shift its focus to the Donbass industrial region to the east.
But as Russia bombards cities as it gradually advances eastward, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly called for more and better weapons and accused the West of moving too slowly.
Andriy Ermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, welcomed the new Western weapons.
“I am sure that if we get all the necessary weapons and strengthen the effective sanctions regime, we will win,” he said.
The new weapons could help Ukraine build and maintain new lines of defense to the east by retaliating against Russian artillery weapons that strike cities and by limiting Russian air strikes, said retired French General Dominique Trincand, a former French military leader. mission to the United Nations.
“NATO countries – European nations and Americans – have gradually escalated the resources they make available to Ukraine, and this escalation, I think, was intended to test Russia’s borders,” he said. “Every time they measure the Russian reaction, and because there is no reaction, they continue to supply more and more effective and sophisticated weapons.
Military analysts say Russia hopes to take over Donbass before any weapons arrive that could reverse the tide.
Germany has been particularly criticized, both at home and by allies abroad, for not doing enough.
Promised deliveries of German air defense systems IRIS-T will mark the first supply of long-range anti-aircraft weapons in Ukraine since the start of the war. Earlier deliveries of portable air defense missiles fired from the shoulder boosted the ability of the Ukrainian military to shoot down helicopters and other low-flying aircraft, but did not give it enough range to challenge Russia’s superiority in the air.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers that the IRIS-T surface-to-air missiles are the country’s most advanced air defense system.
“This will enable Ukraine to protect an entire city from Russian airstrikes,” he said. Radar systems will also help Ukraine locate enemy artillery.
In addition to the missiles, the US package will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapons, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more, two senior administration officials said. Officials said on condition of anonymity to review the package before it is officially announced.
One official noted that advanced missile systems would give Ukrainian forces more precision in targeting Russian forces in Ukraine. The missiles have a range of about 50 miles (80 kilometers) and are very mobile.
The United States has received assurances that Ukraine will not launch missiles into Russian territory, according to senior officials. Ukraine has unsuccessfully pushed missiles up to 186 miles (300 kilometers).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not believe such assurances. “We believe that the United States is deliberately and diligently adding fuel to the fire,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine’s insistence on more weapons was “a direct provocation designed to lure the West into battle.” He warned that multiple missile launches would increase the risk of widespread conflict.
“Reasonable Western politicians are well aware of these risks,” he said.
Reports of the weapons came after a regional governor said Russian forces now control 70% of Severodonetsk, a key city in Moscow’s efforts to complete the takeover of Donbass, where Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have been fighting for years. the separatists held parts of the territory even before the invasion.
Luhansk Governor Sergei Haidai said Ukrainian and Russian forces were fighting in the streets.
The only other city in Luhansk that the Russians have not yet taken, Lisichansk, is still entirely under Ukrainian control, he said, but will probably be the next.
“If the Russians manage to take full control of Severodonetsk within two to three days, they will start deploying artillery and mortars and shelling Lisichansk more intensely,” Haidai said.
Meanwhile, Zelenski. said the country lost between 60 and 100 troops a day in the fighting.
In southern Ukraine, a regional governor sounded more positive, saying Russian troops were withdrawing and blowing up bridges behind them.
“They are afraid of a counterattack by the Ukrainian army,” said Vitaly Kim, governor of the Nikolaev region, in the Telegram news application.
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Jordans reported from Berlin. The authors of the Associated Press, Juras Karmanau from Lviv, Ukraine, Lolita S. Baldor in Washington and Jill Lawless from London contributed to this report.
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