West is sending more weapons to Ukraine
THE United States and Germany yesterday pledged to send Ukraine some of their most advanced weapons yet, as Russian forces waging a grinding offensive in the east of Ukraine closed in on capturing a key city.
Germany said it will supply Ukraine with modern anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, while the US was set to unveil a new weapons package that includes advanced medium-range rocket systems.
The US is trying to strike a balance by helping Ukraine battle ferocious Russian artillery barrages while not providing weapons that could allow Ukraine to hit targets deep inside Russia and trigger an escalation in the war. The Kremlin accused the US of “pouring fuel on the fire”.
Western arms have been critical to Ukraine’s success in thwarting Russia’s much larger and better-equipped military, halting its effort to storm the capital, Kyiv, and forcing Moscow to shift its focus to the industrial Donbas region in the east.
However, as Russia bombards cities and towns during its slow advance in the east, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly pleaded for more and better weapons, and has accused the West of moving too slowly.
Military analysts say Russia is hoping to completely claim the Donbas before any weapons that might turn the tide arrive.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the surface-to-air IRIS-T SLM missiles it will send are the most modern air defence system the country has. They can operate at longer ranges than the Cold War-era anti-aircraft equipment it previously provided.
“With this, we will enable Ukraine to defend an entire city from Russian air attacks,” he said. The radar systems Germany is sending will help Ukraine to locate enemy artillery.
In addition to the rocket systems, the American package will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapons, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more, two senior administration officials said.
The US officials spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the package before it was formally unveiled last night.
The US has received assurances that Ukraine will not fire rockets into Russian territory, according to the senior administration officials. Medium-range rockets can generally can travel about 45 miles.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow does not trust such assurances. “We believe that the US is deliberately and diligently pouring fuel on the fire,” he said.
The announcements came as a regional governor said Russian forces now control 70% of Sievierodonetsk, a city that is key to Moscow’s efforts to complete its capture of the Donbas – part of eastern Ukraine where Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have fought for years and where the separatists held large areas of territory even before the invasion.
Luhansk’s Governor Serhiy Haidai said Ukrainian and Russian forces were battling it out in the streets. The only other city in Luhansk that the Russians have not yet captured, Lysychansk, is still fully under Ukrainian control, he said, but is likely to be next.
“If the Russians manage to take full control over Sievierodonetsk within two to three days, they will start installing artillery and mortars and will shell Lysychansk more intensively,” Mr Haidai said.