Ukraine receives 2nd UAE consignment of generators
UAE aid to help power-hit civilians survive the harsh winter conditions; artillery exchanges pound war-scarred cities in eastern Ukraine despite Putin ceasefire order; Zelensky thanks German chancellor for defence package.
A UAE plane carrying the secønd consignment of household generators has arrived in Warsaw, Poland, as part of the assistance sent by the Emirates for the Ukrainian civilians affected by the ongoing crisis.
In December, the UAE announced that it’s sending 2,500 household generators to civilians affected by the ongoing crisis in Ukraine that has disrupted energy infrastructure and caused power outages, with the objective of helping them survive the harsh winter conditions.
The first consignment of the assistance which comprised 1,200 generators was sent last month, while the rest was delivered on Friday.
The support comes within the $100 million humanitarian relief aid allocated by the UAE to the civilians affected by the crisis in Ukraine.
It stems from the UAE’S belief in the importance of human solidarity, especially in cases of conflict, and falls within the country’s ethical commitment toward dispute-affected peoples in various parts of the world.
In response to the United Nations Ukraine Flash Appeal and the Ukraine Situation Regional Refugee Response, UAE has taken the initiative since the onset of the crisis to alleviate the suffering of those affected, having flown eight planes carrying 360 tonnes of food supplies, medical aid and ambulances for Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Moldova and Bulgaria.
Artillery exchanges pounded war-scarred cities in eastern Ukraine on Friday despite Russian leader Vladimir Putin unilaterally ordering his forces to pause atacks for 36 hours for the Orthodox Christmas.
Russia’s announcement of a temporary unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine is “not credible,” the EU’S top diplomat said Friday, labelling it “hypocrisy.”
“The Kremlin totally lacks credibility and this declaration of a unilateral ceasefire is not credible,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during a visit to Morocco.
“It was Russia that launched this illegitimate aggression,” he said. “When the aggressor talks of a ceasefire, I think the response that comes to us all is scepticism in the face of such hypocrisy.”
The brief ceasefire declared by Putin earlier this week was supposed to begin on Friday and would have been the first full pause since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022. But AFP journalists heard both outgoing and incoming shelling in the frontline city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine ater the time when the Russian ceasefire was supposed to have begun.
Moscow’s forces also struck Kramatorsk in the east, the Ukrainian presidential administration said, as well as the frontline town of Kurakhove where residential buildings and a medical facility were damaged.
Putin’sordertostopfightingduringtheorthodox Christmas came ater Moscow suffered its worst reported loss of life in the war and as Ukraine’s allies pledged to send armoured vehicles and a second Patriot air defence batery to aid Kyiv.
Ky ry lotym os henko from the ukraine president’ s office earlier said that Moscow’s forces had struck a fire station in southern city of Kherson in an atack that let several people dead or wounded.
“They talk about a ceasefire. This is who we are at war with,” he said.
In a separate development, president vol odym yr Zelensiy said he had spoken by phone to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday and thanked him for a “powerful defence package” that would help Ukraine fend off Russian troops and defend its cities. He also said they had discussed further defence cooperation but gave no details.
US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Thursday that both their countries will send powerfully armed infantry fighting vehicles to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion.
The United States will supply Bradleys — which usually come armed with 25 mm autocannon, a 7.62 mm machine-gun and anti-tank missiles — and Germany the Marders, they said.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Friday said around 40 Marders would be sent, or enough to equip a batalion.
The Russian embassy in Berlin on Friday condemned the planned new deliveries as “a further step towards the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.” “It is particularly cynical that this decision was taken shortly before the Orthodox Christmas... against the backdrop of the ceasefire declared unilaterally by the Russian President (Vladimir Putin),” it said.
RABAT: Russia’s announcement of a temporary unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine is “not credible,” the EU’S top diplomat said on Friday, labelling it “hypocrisy.”
“The Kremlin totally lacks credibility and this declaration of a unilateral ceasefire is not credible,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said during a visit to Morocco.
“It was Russia that launched this illegitimate aggression,” he said. “When the aggressor talks of a ceasefire, I think the response that comes to us all is scepticism in the face of such hypocrisy.”
The brief ceasefire declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week was supposed to begin at 0900 GMT on Friday and would have been the first full pause since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022.
But artillery exchanges pounded war-scarred cities in the country’s east on Friday despite Putin unilaterally ordering his forces to stop atacking for 36 hours.
Borrell called for “concrete actions on the ground,” including “a complete halt of military atacks.”
“Russia needs to withdraw its troops and military equipment from Ukrainian territory,” he said.
“In the absence of such concrete actions, a unilateral ceasefire seems to be an atempt by Russia to buy time to regroup its troops and try to repair its damaged international reputation.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an agricultural powerhouse, sent world food prices spiralling to their highest level on record for a full year in 2022, UN figures showed on Friday.
Borrell said Russia was using “propaganda” to blame European sanctions for the spiking food and energy prices.
“That’s totally false,” he said. “It’s the Russian army that destroyed the grain silos, planted mines in the fields, destroyed the roads and blockaded Ukraine’s ports.”
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has taken the main cathedral of the revered historic monastery from the church previously affiliated with Moscow’s patriarchate and allowed its Ukrainian rival to use it for Orthodox Christmas services.
The move comes as the long-running tensions between the two churches exacerbated amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.