War in Ukraine: Kiev has received new heavy tanks from Germany and the United Kingdom

The support of Western countries for the Ukrainian cause remains strong and does not seem to decrease for the moment. This time it was the turn of Germany and the United Kingdom, which Western-made heavy tanks were delivered to Ukraine with the aim of boosting the ability of Kiev’s troops to repel invading Russian forces, authorities said on Monday.

Long on Kiev’s order list, the tanks arrived after the West promised to deliver them earlier this year and arrive in time for the Ukraine’s long-awaited spring offensive.

In parallel with upgrading Ukraine’s arsenal, Russia is sticking to its President Vladimir Putin’s plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Moscow’s ally Belarus in northern Ukraine, despite criticism.

Contributions from Germany and the United Kingdom

The head of the German government, Olaf Scholz, told reporters on Monday that they had provided “Very modern” Leopard tanks. in Kiev. The MoD later indicated that 18 units had been sent.

“Our tanks have arrived in the hands of our Ukrainian friends as promised and on time,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

Moreover, Kiev also received UK Challenger Tanks a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian defense ministry said.

The head of this department, Oleksiy Reznikov, earlier said that he inspected a “new addition” to his arsenal, consisting of these tanks, German Marder infantry fighting vehicles and American Stryker and Cougar armored personnel carriers.

“A year ago, no one would have thought that the support of our partners would be so strong,” Reznikov said on Facebook.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Western criticism of Putin’s announcement about the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus “it cannot influence Russia’s plans“.

In a television interview two days earlier, Putin said they would install tactical nuclear weapons “without violating” their “international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation”.

The threat of a nuclear disaster has been hanging over this conflict for a year, especially around the Ukrainian power plant of Zaporizhia, controlled by the Russians since the early stages of the war.

During a visit by the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said that safety could not be guaranteed around that nuclear power plant.

“Without the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and personnel from the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant and its adjacent territory, any initiative to restore nuclear safety is doomed to failure,” he said.

Argentine Grossi, who is expected to visit the plant this week, said he met Zelensky in the city of Zaporizhia and reiterated “full IAEA support for Ukraine’s nuclear facilities“.

A new Russian attack on Sloviansk

In eastern Ukraine, a series of Russian missiles hit various buildings in the Sloviansk region and killed two people who were in their vehicles. Police said there were more than 30 injured.

A bloodstained cap lay by the side of a road, next to a parked vehicle with the front seat stained red and covered in broken glass.

Police said the shells were Russian S-300 missiles, theoretically designed for air defense but used by Moscow to carry out ground attacks due to its troops’ alleged lack of ammunition.

In Avdiivka, another hard-hit city on the frontline in eastern Donetsk region, a Ukrainian official said municipal workers were being evacuated as Russian forces advanced.

“Avdiivka looks more and more a place straight out of post-apocalyptic movies”the head of the local military administration Vitaliy Barabash said on social media.

“Therefore, the difficult decision was made to evacuate (…) the municipal workers, who were at least trying to maintain the cleanliness and vitality of the city” while they were still there, he added.

Russian forces have been trying for months to occupy the entire eastern Donetsk region, with particularly bloody fighting in the town of Bakhmut, north of Avdiivka.

Photo: AFP