Russia launches new salvo of missiles at Ukraine after tanks announcement

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Russian forces launched a new wave of missile and drone strikes targeting Ukraine's already battered energy infrastructure a day after the U.S. and Germany agreed to provide Kyiv with tanks.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said Russia launched 55 missiles, though they were able to shoot down 47 of them. Twenty of the missiles were shot down over the area of Kyiv, the capitol of Ukraine, according to General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. One individual was killed in Kyiv by the falling fragments of an intercepted missile, according to CNN.

BIDEN ANNOUNCES TRANSFER OF TANKS TO UKRAINE, PRAISES GERMANY FOR DOING THE SAME

“The main targets were energy facilities to deprive Ukrainians of power and warmth,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram. “The majority of missiles and drones were intercepted by our defenders. Unfortunately, there were hits at substations. Nevertheless the situation in the power grid remains under control. Power engineers are doing everything to provide power supply.”

"Another cruel attack, same strategic failure," U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink said on social media. "Waves of Russian drones and missiles can’t stop Ukraine’s heroic defenders, its brave people or our determined, unified support."

A day earlier, the U.S. and Germany agreed to provide Ukraine with more than 40 tanks, though they won't reach the battlefield immediately.

President Joe Biden's decision to send Ukraine 31 M1 Abrams tanks, which he announced on Wednesday, was a policy reversal that unlocked a stalemate between the U.S. and Germany, whose leaders reportedly told U.S. lawmakers that they wouldn't provide their Leopard tanks unless Biden made the Abrams donation.

The Germans' Leopard tanks are likely to reach Ukraine by the end of March, according to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorious, while the U.S. tanks will take much longer to reach the battlefield because the U.S. has to procure the tanks from General Dynamics Land Systems, which will be using funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

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Biden's decision to meet one of Ukraine's most urgent requests was met with accusations of escalation from Russian officials.

Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev called Berlin's decision to send tanks to Kiev "highly dangerous," and said it "takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation," while Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the delivery of tanks amounts to "direct involvement" in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

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Tags: War in Ukraine, Defense, National Security, Ukraine, Russia, Germany

Original Author: Mike Brest

Original Location: Russia launches new salvo of missiles at Ukraine after tanks announcement