Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) accused Ukraine on Monday of storing Western-supplied arms at nuclear power stations across the country. It provided no evidence for the claims. The SVR said US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers, air defence systems and artillery ammunition had been delivered to the Rivne nuclear power station in the northwest of Ukraine. Stay with TOI for live updates:Read Less
Poland seeks coalition to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Poland said on Monday it would ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine – and would send them whether or not Berlin agreed as long as other countries did too.
The Kyiv government wants the German-made Leopard 2, one of the most widely used Western tanks, to help it break through Russian lines and recapture territory this year.
Germany, which must approve re-exports of the Leopard, has so far held back, wary of moves that could cause Moscow to escalate, and says other NATO countries have yet to formally ask to re-export them.
Poland pushes for more tanks for Kyiv, will seek German OK
Poland said Monday it would ask Berlin for permission to send German-built Leopard tanks to Ukraine as the government in Warsaw pushes its Western allies to move faster on supplying Kyiv with more military hardware to thwart Russia’s invasion.
Germany has hesitated over sending tanks to Ukraine. But Polish officials took heart from remarks Sunday by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that Berlin wouldn’t seek to stop Poland from providing Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki didn’t specify when the request to Germany will be made. He said that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
On Ukraine’s frontlines, Polish paramedic tends to wounded soldiers
Damian Duda, a Polish academic and media worker, was only 25 when he first went to Ukraine as a volunteer combat paramedic in 2014, work he describes as his “private crusade”.
Almost 10 years on, when Russian bombs started falling over Ukrainian cities at the start of its invasion, he had built up a team of six people with experience on battlefields as far afield as Iraq and Syria.
They had also started filming their medical missions driving out to the frontlines in Ukraine in a specially equipped vehicle, notching up tens of thousands of views on social media.
“Our task is to get the soldier out of the battle, provide him with basic medical care, make sure that he does not bleed out… and take him to a relatively safe place where ambulances are waiting for him,” the 34-year-old told Reuters in his home city of Warsaw.
Poland ups pressure to send German-made tanks to Ukraine
Poland said Monday it would seek Berlin’s permission to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, but was prepared to do so without approval as Kyiv presses its allies for heavy weaponry.
After days of mounting pressure and stalling, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday said that Germany would not stand in the way if Warsaw asked to send Leopard tanks that Ukraine has demanded.
“We will seek this approval,” Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters Monday.
“Even if we didn’t get such an approval in the end, we will give our tanks to Ukraine anyway — within a small coalition of countries, even if Germany isn’t in that coalition”, Morawiecki said.
Ukraine has blasted the “global indecision” of its allies in supplying the tanks which it said was “killing more of our people”.
Ukraine storing weapons at nuclear plants: Russia
Ukrainian forces are storing Western-supplied missiles and artillery shells in nuclear power plants, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin said on Monday, reports said.
He claimed that Kiev has been using the plants as cover for ammunition stockpiles, RT reported.
“There is credible information that Ukrainian troops are stockpiling the Western-supplied weapons and ammunition on the territory of nuclear power plants,” Naryshkin said, according to a statement on the intelligence service’s website.
He added that the armaments include rockets for US-made HIMARS launchers and missiles used by foreign air defence systems, as well as “large-caliber artillery shells”.
Russian foreign minister Lavrov: Longer Ukraine rejects peace talks harder it would be to find a solution
Even if Germany is not part of the coalition, Poland could send the tanks as part of a small coalition of countries: Polish PM
Polish PM Morawiecki says Poland will ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Russian spy service says Himars missiles and other weapons deployed at nuclear power stations in Ukraine
EU to examine using confiscated Russian assets for reconstruction
European Council President Charles Michel has urged the block’s national leaders to push forward with talks on using $300 billion-worth of confiscated Russian central bank assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Monday.Michael said he wanted to explore the idea of managing the Russian central bank’s frozen assets to generate profits, which could then be earmarked for reconstruction efforts, the newspaper reported.
Head of Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine's Donetsk says visited Soledar
Russia taken 180,000 dead or wounded in Ukraine: Norwegian army
Russia has suffered 180,000 killed or wounded in Ukraine so far, while the figure for the Ukrainians is 100,000 military casualties and 30,000 dead civilians, according to estimates released Sunday by Norway’s army chief. “Ukrainian losses are probably over 100,000 dead or wounded. In addition Ukraine has about 30,000 civilians who died in this terrible war,” said the Norwegian general.
Zelenskyy urges Ukrainians to remain unified
With winter conditions bogging down military troops and leaving both sides looking ahead to spring offensives, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called on Ukrainians from all regions to remain unified. His comments came in a speech marking Unity Day, a holiday created to commemorate events that took place more than a century ago — and one whose meaning has acquired added poignancy in the wake of the Russian invasion.The day marks a 1919 treaty signed in Kyiv to unite republics in Ukraine and western Ukraine into a single independent state.
Asked what would happen if Poland went ahead and sent its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval, Annalena Baerbock said on France’s LCI TV: “For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way.”
Her remarks appeared to go further than German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s comments at a summit in Paris earlier on Sunday that all decisions on weapons deliveries would be made in coordination with allies including the United States.
Germany would not block Poland from sending tanks to Ukraine, says minister
Ukrainian officials have been calling on Western allies to supply them with the modern German-made tanks for months – but Berlin has so far held back from sending them, or allowing other NATO countries to do so.
Germany and France vow support for Ukraine, including military
Russia official warns West of destruction for arming Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany would continue to support Ukraine, speaking days after Western allies dampened Ukraine’s hopes for a rapid shipment of battle tanks.
Ukraine defence ministry denies corruption claims
France, Germany renew alliance strained amid war in Ukraine