President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his defence minister welcomed the formation by Ukraine’s Western allies on Thursday of a 20-nation “coalition” to boost air defences, seen as a key element in the country’s campaign against Russian forces.
Zelenskiy said the group, one of several devoted to specific areas of Ukraine’s defence, was formed at a virtual meeting of the “Ramstein group” examining Ukraine’s military needs.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 21st November, 2023. PICTURE: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
Germany’s Defence Ministry had earlier announced the formation of the group in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, with Germany and France taking on leading roles.
“Thanks to every country participating in these efforts for enabling our cities and villages to be better protected against Russian attacks,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
“Not everything can be disclosed publicly at this time, but the Ukrainian air shield is becoming stronger every month.”
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov also noted other assistance agreed by participants, including a German air defence package announced this week during a visit to Kyiv by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. Also noted were a Dutch package and Estonian financing for help with information technology.
Ukraine’s military commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhniy, said on Telegram that he had taken part in the meeting for the first time, describing the situation along the 1,000 kilometre front as “complicated but controllable”.
Zelenskiy has long pointed to improved air defence as a key element to help keep Ukrainian cities safe from Russian air strikes – including on energy infrastructure – as wintry weather takes hold.
At different points in the war, about to extend into its 21st month, Russia has launched attacks on Ukrainian power stations and other infrastructure.
Missile and drone strikes have also hit apartment blocks and other civilian sites, though Russia denies targeting civilians.
A view shows a hospital heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Selydove, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on 21st November, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Alina Smutko/File photo
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian troops face “difficult” defensive operations on parts of the eastern front with bitter winter cold setting in, but forces in the south are still conducting offensive actions.
Russian troops launched offensives on different sections of the front line in Ukraine’s east this autumn, trying to advance on the devastated town of Avdiivka and in the north-east between the towns of Lyman and Kupiansk.
“Difficult weather, difficult defence on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiivka fronts. Offensive actions in the south,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram messenger.
The Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office said one man died when Russian forces shelled Avdiivka, another in an attack on Chasiv Yar to the north and a third in the southern city of Kherson. In the town of Sedylove in the east, a third body was pulled from rubble after a hospital was struck on Tuesday.
Operations could be complicated by cold weather, with daytime temperatures of minus five degrees Celsius expected to dip as fighting moves to an attritional phase.
We rely on our readers to fund Sight's work - become a financial supporter today!
For more information, head to our Subscriber's page.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, and now controls nearly a fifth of its territory. A Ukrainian counteroffensive, under way since June, has made no major breakthrough.
The front line has changed little in Avdiivka since fighting erupted in 2014 between Kyiv and Russian-backed militants, but the town has faced waves of attacks since mid-October, followed by temporary lulls, according to the Ukrainian military.
After one such lull the day before, the head of the “Tavria” military command said on Wednesday that Russian troops had “dramatically increased” the number of assaults and airstrikes.
“Our defenders are steadfastly holding the defence in the Avdiivka direction,” Commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said on Telegram. Ukrainian forces continued the offensive on the south-eastern Melitopol front, he added.
In its evening report, Ukraine’s General Staff said 22 Russian attacks had been beaten back in and around Avdiivka.
Military analyst Oleksandr Musiyenko told NV Radio that Ukrainian forces had launched counter-attacks near Avdiivka in the past week and “managed to push the enemy back from previous positions”.
In an earlier battlefield report, the General Staff said troops were holding bridgeheads secured on the eastern side of the River Dnipro occupied by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion.
In its account of the fighting, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its troops had struck Ukrainian troops and equipment near Bakhmut, another devastated town north of Avdiivka.
Reuters could not independently verify frontline reports.
