Russia is now engaged in “a war against NATO and the West,” the European Union’s defense chief said yesterday as Canada became the 12th country to send tanks to Ukraine.
Stefano Sannino, the secretary general of the EU’s foreign action service, suggested that Vladimir Putin had gone beyond his initial “special military operation” and was “taking the war to a different stage.”
Sannino spoke as Canada became the latest country to pledge tanks and Poland said it would give an additional 60 to the 14 it has already committed to the war effort.
Spain and Norway are expected to announce how many Leopard 2s they will send to Ukraine in the coming days.
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Stefano Sannino (pictured), the secretary general of the EU’s foreign action service, suggested that Vladimir Putin was “taking the war to a different stage.”
Belgium announced a new military aid package, promising cash, missiles, machine guns and armored vehicles, but had to admit it doesn’t have any main battle tanks to match its NATO allies’ offers.
Ukraine is also looking at Western fourth-generation fighter jets, such as the US’s F-16, although this remains an unlikely prospect.
Sannino said Ukraine’s allies were forced to increase and improve their military support for Kyiv in response to Moscow shifting the focus of the war to the West.
Addressing reporters in Tokyo, he said: “I think this latest development in terms of arms supply is just an evolution of the situation and the way Russia has started to take the war to a different stage.”
Putin (pictured yesterday) has intensified attempts to breach Ukraine’s defenses with heavy fighting in the east of the country.
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He added that Russia was carrying out “indiscriminate attacks” against civilians and cities. The country was desperate to gain momentum on the eastern Ukrainian battlefields before the Western tank squadrons arrived.
In the last 48 hours, Moscow forces have been trying to break through the Ukrainian front lines in the Donbas region. From Thursday night until yesterday morning, Russia also subjected Ukrainian cities to more bomb attacks.
Some 47 of the 59 missiles were intercepted, but 11 people are believed to have died in the explosions caused by Russian munitions penetrating Ukraine’s air defense systems. Russia also launched 37 airstrikes.
In response to the provision of Western tanks to Ukraine, Russia has accused US President Joe Biden of “throwing weapons” into the country when he could be instigating a ceasefire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said the promised delivery of Western tanks to Ukraine was evidence of the growing “direct involvement” of the United States and Europe in the war. The Western Allies have committed around 150 tanks. Peskov said: “There are constant statements from European capitals and Washington DC that sending various weapons systems to Ukraine, including tanks, in no way signifies the involvement of these countries or the [Nato] alliance in hostilities in Ukraine.
After weeks of hesitation, Germany finally agreed to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks (pictured)
Local residents remove rubble from their neighbor’s house damaged by a Russian military attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
A woman takes photos with her mobile phone next to ruined houses after Russian missile attacks
‘We categorically disagree with this, and in Moscow everything [they’re doing] It looks like direct participation. We see that this is growing.’ North Korea also condemned the US decision to supply tanks to Ukraine and said Washington was escalating a sinister “proxy war” aimed at destroying Moscow.
Meanwhile, Hungary, which is a NATO member and an EU state, suggested that Western countries have “drifted off” to become active participants in the conflict.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been widely condemned for alleged attempts to curtail democratic freedoms in Hungary, said the West should seek “a ceasefire and peace talks” rather than arming Ukraine.
He added: ‘It started with the Germans saying they were willing to send helmets but would not send lethal aid as that represented participation in the conflict.
A German-made Leopard tank is shown on exercises in Canada and will soon be deployed on the battlefield.
Ukrainian soldiers are seen yesterday in their mortar position on the Donbass front line.
“Now we are on battle tanks and there are discussions about planes.” Hungary has refused to send weapons to Ukraine and has increased the Kremlin’s coffers by buying Russian gas, oil and nuclear fuel.
Asked if Hungary would get more involved, Mr Orban said: “This is out of the question as long as I’m prime minister.”
‘But the others [other European countries] they have already been swept away. If you send weapons, whatever you say, you are in the war.
It comes as Ukraine will set up drone assault companies within its military in a joint venture with billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite communications company.
Kyiv announced yesterday that it had signed an agreement with Starlink satellite communications, which is operated by Musk’s SpaceX organization.
Ukraine wants to develop a futuristic army of drones to carry out attacks behind Russian lines. In a statement on its Facebook page yesterday, Starlink said that “the most professional [Ukrainian] Military men have been chosen to lead the assault companies that will be equipped with UAVs and explosives.
Starlink added: “We are doing everything possible to provide soldiers with modern technologies.”
Drones have already played a crucial role on both sides since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Moscow has used hundreds of Iranian-made ‘suicide drones’ to attack Ukrainian cities, while Kyiv forces have used drones to drop small explosives on Russian forces and monitor their movements.
Ukrainian soldiers are seen riding a Soviet-era T-72 tank, widely used in the ongoing conflict, in the Donetsk region on January 20.
APC units dumped the retaken town of Lyman in the Donetsk region yesterday at a key moment in the war.
