Zelenskyy asks speedy arms supplies from West while Russia advances in Bakhmut

WORLD  31 January 2023 - 10:44

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on its Western backers to "speed up" the delivery of promised supplies to Ukraine as Russian forces claim to have advanced around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Speaking in his nightly address on January 29, Zelenskyy stressed the need to quickly "open up new weapons options for Ukraine." The Ukrainian leader said Moscow was hoping to "exhaust" Kyiv's resistance forces, telling his audience that the situation was "very tough" around Bakhmut, Newsweek reports.

He listed Bakhmut, along with the Donetsk town of Vuhledar, as under "constant Russian attacks," adding that the "enemy does not count its people and, despite numerous casualties, maintains a high intensity of attacks."

Heavy fighting has been reported in Vuhledar and Blahodatne, to the southwest of Donetsk city. Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-backed administrator in Donetsk, said Russian forces had gained a "foothold" in Vuhledar, according to Russian state media.

On January 25, the US announced it would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv, which would equip a Ukrainian tank battalion. President Joe Biden said the donation was needed to for Ukrainian forces to "counter Russia's evolving tactics and strategy" in what he called "the very near term."

On the same day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed Berlin would send 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Kyiv, and allow the third-party transfer of the tanks from various other nations. The UK had already said it would transfer 14 Challenger 2 tanks.

But the deliveries were pledged with the caveat that the tanks wouldn't be rolling into Ukraine anytime soon. A senior White House official said in a briefing that "the deliveries will take some time because this is a procurement" through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

Caliber.Az