Allies promise Ukraine air defense systems as Russia continues to bomb

On Thursday, Ukraine enlisted the support of its Western allies to acquire more powerful air defense systems to defend itself against bombing raids by Russia, which is advancing on the industrial city of Bakhmut to the east.

After nearly eight months of war, the Kremlin expects Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to come up with a “official” mediation offer to end the conflict. The Turkish leader meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

On the ground, pro-Russian separatist forces in the Donetsk region of Ukraine have announced that they have captured two cities near the gates of Bakhmut, an industrial city that Moscow has been trying to capture since August.

The conflict between Kyiv and Moscow shows no signs of respite. In Belgorod, a Russian city located less than 100 km from Kharkov, the second city Ukraine a residential building exploded in the northeast, local authorities said.

And in recent days, several Ukrainian cities have been hit by an avalanche of rockets, missiles and drones, in what Putin has portrayed as retaliation for the explosion on a bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, to Russian territory. .

The explosions killed at least 19 people, injured more than 100, and severely damaged energy infrastructure, according to Ukrainian authorities. On Thursday, the power grid stabilized again, the Ukrainian operator Ukrenergo reported on Facebook.

In the face of these new attacks, Kyiv celebrated a commitment by its Western allies to send it air defense systems, which Britain joined in supporting on Thursday.

“AMRAAM missiles … will be delivered in the coming weeks for use with the US-promised NASAMS air defense systems,” the British Department of Defense said in a statement.

The promised rockets are given for the first time Ukraine the ability to shoot down cruise missiles.

“We have our own device, but this is not enough, we have a very large country, and many teams need to be protected,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told the parliamentarians of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Turkish mediation?

G7 and IMF on Wednesday confirmed their support Ukraine the “necessary time” to deal with the billion-dollar economic impact of the Russian invasion.

This Thursday, Putin met with his Turkish counterpart in Astana on the sidelines of a regional summit. Before the meeting, the Kremlin said that Turkey intends to offer mediation and that, in the event of negotiations, “most likely, they will take place on its territory: in Istanbul or Ankara.”

Turkey, which is a member of NATO, maintains a neutral role and maintains good relations with both Kyiv and Moscow. However, Zelenskiy insists that negotiations with Moscow cannot take place while Putin is in power.

During the meeting, Erdogan defended his country’s economic ties with Russia and promised to continue the export of Ukrainian grain, an agreement reached through the mediation of the UN and Istanbul.

Putin, for his part, proposed the creation of a “gas center” in Turkey to export gas to Europe.

Russian gas supplies to the European Union have been disrupted as a result of the bloc’s sanctions against Moscow and the failure of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

Attack on Bakhmut

The meeting comes as Kyiv forces are retaking Russian-held territories in southern and eastern Ukraine. Ukraine.

The Ukrainian army on Thursday said it had repelled Russian attacks in the area of ​​the cities of Bakhmutskoye, Ozaryanovka, Ivangrad, Maryinka and Bakhmut.

But the Moscow troops are also profiting. Pro-Russian forces on Thursday said they had taken control of the cities of Opytnoye and Ivangrad, south of Bakhmut.

troops Ukraine They told Agence France-Presse this week that Russian artillery is still outgunned along this front line.

Farther north, AFP journalists on Thursday heard artillery fire in Yampol, near the strategic Liman railway junction recently recaptured by Kyiv.

Returning from the front line, the Ukrainian soldier said that the city of Torsk was under fire from Russia.

And in the south, the city of Nikolaev was also subjected to shelling. According to Mayor Alexander Senkevich, a five-story residential building was damaged.

always in the south Ukrainein the Zaporozhye region, the situation around the nuclear power plant of the same name, occupied by Russian troops, continues to cause concern.

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly condemned the “illegal annexation” of four territories Ukraine on Russiaand sent what Joe Biden called “a clear message” to Moscow.

Resolution submitted by Albania and Ukraineco-sponsored by some seventy countries, was approved by 143 votes to five (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria) and 35 abstentions, including China, Bolivia, Algeria, Pakistan, Honduras and Mali.

(According to AFP)

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Fernando Carvallo selects information and shares his vision of national and international news. sign to our newsletter Things As They Are to read their daily columns.