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| REUTERS/Marko Djurica |
Ukrainian soldiers fighting to hold off a Russian push on the small eastern city of Bakhmut pleaded for more weapons from the outside world as senior Western leaders met in Munich on Friday to assess the year-long war shaking Europe.
"Give us more military equipment, more weapons, and we will deal with the Russian occupier, we will destroy them," said Dmytro, a serviceman standing in the snow near Bakhmut, echoing a plea by his president to the Munich conference.
Nearly one year into the invasion, President Vladimir Putin's troops are intensifying assaults in the east.
Ukraine is planning a spring counter-offensive, for which it wants more, heavier and longer-range weapons from its Western allies.
Europe's worst conflict since World War Two war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted millions from their homes, pummelled the global economy and made Putin a pariah in the West.
He says he is fighting for Russia's security against an aggressively expanding NATO alliance, but Kyiv and its allies cast the invasion as a colonial-style land grab in Ukraine, formerly part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union.
On the freezing battlefield, Ukrainian servicemen showed a visiting journalist the benefits of Australian-provided Bushmaster armoured vehicles in an area where Russian soldiers have become bogged down in months of fighting to take Bakhmut, which Russia's Wagner mercenary group is attacking.
The vehicles shield soldiers from bullets, enable evacuations of wounded and give cover for reconnaissance, Dmytro added. "There were cases when anti-tank mines were detonated, and the soldiers only received contusions. There were no serious injuries to the soldiers. It has worked very well." --->READ MORE HERE
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| Photo:REUTERS/Benjamin Westhoff |
Through joint effort, Poland, Norway, Canada, Spain, and Finland have equipped a battalion of Leopard-2A4 tanks to be sent to Ukraine, Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told Polish newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna on Feb. 15.
“I want to say that we have equipped a battalion of Leopard 2A4 tanks,” said Blaszczak.
He added that Poland transferred 14 tanks, Norway – 8, Canada – 4, Spain – 4-6, with Finland donating an unspecified number of vehicles.
According to the minister, training of Ukrainian crews is currently underway in Poland, with help from Canadian and Norwegian instructors.
On Feb. 14, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that a group of countries, including Germany, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, are working on the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
On Jan. 25, after long hesitation, Germany approved the transfer of 14 Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine and their re-export from partner countries. On the same day, the U.S. announced the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the first tanks can be sent to Ukraine by the end of March. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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