Western nations pledged Thursday to send more weapons to Ukraine and the European Union’s blanket ban on Russian coal went into effect, tightening sanctions against Moscow that intelligence reports are hurting its defense exports.
Germany, which in the first weeks of the conflict had given the impression of being a lackadaisical ally of Ukraine, is in the process of what Chancellor Olaf Scholz described as a “full-scale” break with its past by sending weapons to the war-torn nation. war.
Scholz said that Berlin “is sending weapons, a large, large number, overwhelming and very effective. And we will continue to do so in the near future.” His government has approved military arms exports worth at least $710 million and plans to provide additional financial aid to Ukraine, the foreign minister added.
At a meeting in Copenhagen, Britain and Denmark also made additional commitments to help defend Ukraine against the Russian invasion, which has devastated the nation and reverberated around the world.
“We will not let you down,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said as she opened the international donor conference. Denmark said a new contribution of $113 million will increase total funding from the small nation of 5.8 million people to more than $500 million. She called it a “huge donation.”
By comparison, Ukraine’s biggest donor, the United States, has pledged $9.1 billion in security aid since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.
To increase the pressure on Moscow, Britain has announced that it will send additional rocket launchers and guided missile systems to Ukraine. The missiles can hit targets 80 kilometers (50 miles) away with tremendous accuracy, the British government said.
The new weapons, of which the quantity was not specified, are in addition to the various rocket launcher systems that Britain already provided this year after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion.
Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the additional military support shows the West “will stand shoulder to shoulder, providing defense military support to Ukraine to help them fend off Putin’s invasion.”
Speaking via video link to the gathering of mostly northern European countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more assistance. “The faster we stop Russia, the sooner we feel safe,” he said.
Britain said Moscow already faces pressure over the need to produce more armored fighting vehicles for its troops in Ukraine and therefore “is highly unlikely to be able to meet some export orders” in a sector that has been proud for many years.
Britain’s defense intelligence report, highlighting “the growing effect of Western sanctions,” reaffirmed the West’s belief that the series of measures imposed on the Kremlin since the conflict began are having a growing impact on the economy. Russian.
The text noted that, due to the war and sanctions, “its military industrial capacity is now under significant pressure, and the credibility of many of its weapons systems has been undermined by their link to the poor performance of Russian forces.”
As the war approaches six months, Russia faces other challenges. Faced with reports that hundreds of Russian soldiers are refusing to fight and attempting to desert the armed forces, covert recruitment efforts including the use of prisoners are being carried out to make up for a lack of trained troops.
Pressure on Russia’s military credibility increased on Wednesday when Ukraine reported that nine Russian warplanes were destroyed in explosions at an airbase in the Moscow-controlled region of Crimea, apparently as a result of a Ukrainian attack.
The Kremlin denied that the explosion had caused damage to any Russian aircraft, or even that an attack had occurred. But satellite images clearly showed that at least seven fighters at the base had been destroyed and others were likely damaged.
Wallace called Russia’s explanations for the explosions, including the theory that they were caused by a cigarette butt, “excuses.”
“When you see the images of two simultaneous explosions somewhat distant from each other, and some of the damage reported even by the Russian authorities, I think it is clear that it is not something that happens because someone dropped a cigarette” , he added.
Ukrainian forces waging a sweeping counter-offensive in the south of the country have retook control of 54 settlements in the Kherson region, which Russia razed in the first days of the war, the regional governor said Thursday.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Yaroslav Yanushevych also accused Moscow of launching retaliatory artillery attacks on areas it lost, causing a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in towns and villages in the far north of the region. The governor said that 92% of the Kherson region remains occupied by Russia.