KYIV: NATO said on Sunday that Western nations will soon send more heavy weapons to Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin praised his forces after they said they had taken over a town in Ukraine.
In the meantime, Washington condemned the missile attack on a tower block in the eastern city of Dnipro, which resulted in 30 deaths as rescue workers continued their search for survivors.
In response to Kyiv’s requests to its allies for the vehicles, artillery, and missiles that it believes are essential to defending itself, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Ukraine could anticipate receiving additional heavy weapons.
“The recent pledges for heavy warfare equipment are important — and I expect more in the near future,” Stoltenberg told the German newspaper Handelsblatt in advance of this week’s meeting of a group that coordinates arms supplies to Kiev.
Putin hailed it as a major success days after Russia claimed to have taken Soledar, a salt-mining outpost in eastern Ukraine where 10,000 people lived prior to the conflict.
In a Sunday interview, Putin stated, “There is a positive dynamic, and everything is developing according to plans.” I hope that our fighters will once again delight us.”
This week, Russia’s defense ministry said it had “completed the liberation” of Soledar.
As Russian forces move toward the Bakhmut transport interchange, which has been their primary target since October, this could be a significant gain.
Rivalries in Soledar
Ukraine insists that extensive fighting continues in Soledar, denying the Russian claims.
“Ukrainian forces are highly unlikely to still hold positions within the settlement of Soledar itself,” however, the Institute for the Study of War in the United States stated on Sunday.
If Russia achieves victory there, it will come after months of humiliating defeats.
In the battle for the town, significant losses have been conceded by both sides.
In the meantime, rescue workers in Dnipro continued their search for people who survived the missile attack on a tower block on Saturday, which has killed 30 people so far.
In televised remarks, Natalia Babachenko, regional adviser, stated that the attack also left dozens of people injured.
Officials said that among the dead was a 15-year-old girl after rescuers pulled dozens of people, including a woman, from the rubble on Sunday.
“About 30 to 40 people are still under the rubble,” Babachenko stated.
According to the Ukrainian army, the block was struck by an X-22 Russian missile that it was unable to shoot down.
“These air targets can only be intercepted by anti-aircraft missile systems, which may be provided to Ukraine in the future by Western partners,” it stated.
The attack was condemned by a growing number of people, including the United States.
A spokesperson for the US National Security Council stated, “The strikes of yesterday are another example of the brutal and barbaric war Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people.”
“We will continue our efforts to hold Russian forces accountable for their war crimes and atrocities,” states the United States. “The United States will continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend itself.”
Weapons promised
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, made a plea on Saturday for more Western military equipment, claiming that the only way to stop Russian “terror” was on the battlefield.
“Why is this necessary? “Those weapons are in our partners’ storage facilities,” Zelensky stated.
This month, the United States, Germany, and France each offered 40 German Marder infantry vehicles, 50 Bradley fighting vehicles, and 40 French AMX-10 RC light tanks.
However, the allies are increasingly under pressure to agree to the delivery of battle tanks.
Saturday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he would give Ukraine 14 Challenger 2 tanks. This makes Britain the first Western nation to give Ukraine the heavy tanks it has been asking for.
“Bringing tanks to the conflict zone… will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population,” the Russian embassy in Britain warned.
Power cuts
Sunday, Ukraine was still reeling from the 12th wave of large-scale missile attacks on Saturday.
Ukrenergo, an energy provider, stated that the infrastructure was “being restored,” but that the attacks had increased the likelihood of power outages.
According to Yaroslav Yanushevych, the military administration in the southern Kherson region is once more under “massive attack.”
He stated that civilian and critical infrastructure had been hit by Russian strikes, including Red Cross facilities and a center for disabled children.
“The military command and related energy facilities… all targets were reached,” the Russian army claimed.
