The Western response to contain this mega-mobilization is to continue enriching the arsenal of the defenders. The United States takes, as always, the lion’s share, with a package of 2,000 million and missiles with a range of 150 kilometers (see separate note). But the Europeans are not far behind: Italy and France gave the final green light to the Samp-T anti-aircraft system, which will be operational in Ukraine “in the spring”, while Germany will make another series of Leopard tanks available.
Moscow’s position, after almost a year of conflict, does not seem to have changed because Washington “does not see signs of willingness to negotiate.” On the contrary, according to CIA director William Burns, Putin is betting on declining Western interest and the “political fatigue” of kyiv’s backers, which could offer Russian troops new space to gain ground on the enemy.
The Ukrainian 007 share this analysis and come to imagine an even more concrete scenario. “The occupiers became more active on the eastern front, and in particular in (republic of) Lugansk, where they are gathering more reserves and disabling mobile internet in the occupied part for fear that local residents will denounce the movement of equipment,” he explained. Governor Sergei Gaidai.
Fight for Bakhmut
Signals on the ground confirm an intensification of Russian attacks in Donbas starting from Bakhmut -in the Donetsk republic-, where fierce fighting is taking place. “It is our fortress city, we will not abandon it”, assured Volodímir Zelenski when receiving in kyiv the president of the European Council -formed by the governments of the 27 countries of the European Union-, Charles Michel, and the president of the European Commission (Executive of the EU), Ursula von der Leyen for the EU-Ukraine summit.
The Ukrainian leader was clear in front of the headlines of the community institutions: “Russia wants to take over the east and we cannot relax.” Hence, the umpteenth request to the allies: “By accelerating deliveries of weapons, including long-range weapons, we will not only not withdraw from Bakhmut, but will also begin to liberate Donbas, which has been occupied since 2014.”
Equipment
The answer came once again from the Western chancelleries. The Pentagon announced a new shipment of weapons for 2,000 million dollars, which includes, above all, GLSDB missiles, guided with GPS, which can hit a target 150 kilometers away, almost double the number of HMARS dispatched in June. . However, his arrival at the front will not be immediate and it could take nine months.
Rome and Paris also moved: the advanced Italian-French-made Samp-T air defense system will be delivered “in the spring of 2023”, announced the Italian minister Guido Crosetto after a telephone conversation with his colleague Sebastien Lecornu, in which the last technical details of the shipment were defined.
Crosetto’s announcement was a sign that kyiv intends to strengthen its defenses almost a year after the invasion, which will take place on the 24th.
New weapons are also coming from Berlin. After giving the 14 Leopard 2 tanks a go-ahead, the German government unblocked the transfer of the Leopard 1: these are older vehicles, dating from the 1960s, but of which there are 90 in storage.
Moscow’s response to the mobilization of NATO countries is, as always, a mix of security flaunting and threatening warnings. In the Kremlin, spokesman Dmitri Peskov assured that the military operation in Ukraine continues to “guarantee the security of Donbas”, while that of Crimea – annexed to Russia in 2014 – is already “reliably guaranteed”.
The vice president of the Russian Security Council, former President Dmitri Medvedev, instead, used his usual apocalyptic tone: the prospect of the “complete failure of the Ukrainian state” and its “inevitable end” is at hand and the West will silently attend the ” death” from Ukraine.
A country that is liquidated neither more nor less than as a “colony”, destined to be thrown “into the garbage can of history”, he assured.
ANSA Agency
Source: Ambito
