An ally of President Vladimir Putin has warned that delivering weapons to Kyiv which threaten Russia will lead to a global catastrophe; UK’s MoD says Moscow will struggle to staff planned armed forces expansion. Listen to the latest episode of Ukraine War Diaries as you scroll.
According to news site Menadefense, around 20 T-72B tanks, which were being modernised in the Czech Republic were sent to Ukraine a week ago.
The decision to deliver the arms was made during the Rammstein Air Base meeting for Ukraine, which took place on 26 April, 2022.
At the meeting, Morocco and Tunisia were the only two countries to represent North Africa.
The tanks were part of a larger number brought by the Moroccan army from Belarusian stocks in 1999 and 2000.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius has said a decision concerning the shipment of German-made tanks to Ukraine will be made soon, whichever way it may go.
He said the government has many factors to consider and the country would not make a hasty decision, when speaking in an interview with Germany’s ARD TV.
Such factors include the consequences for the security of the German population.
This comes after Mr Pistorius told a German newspaper yesterday that he is planning to visit Ukraine within the next four weeks.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told French broadcaster LCI that Germany would not stand in the way if Poland decided to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Speaking through a translator, Ms Baerbock said: “For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way.”
The question came after Pawel Jablonski, deputy foreign minister of Poland, said on January 20, that the country could send in the tanks even if Germany opposes it.
Speaking to private radio RMF FM, Mr Jablonski said Poland are “ready to take such a step,” after Warsaw and other NATO allies have been urging Germany to give them the go-ahead.
He said: “At the moment we are trying to make Germany not only agree to these tanks being sent by Poland or other countries, but also to do so themselves.
“I think that if there is strong resistance, we will be ready to take even such non-standard action… but let’s not anticipate the facts.”
Echoing this Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, criticised Germany’s reluctance, saying that if the country did not consent to transferring Leopard tanks to Ukraine, his country was prepared to build a “smaller coalition” of countries that would send theirs anyway.
A round-up of the former prime minister’s surprise visit to Ukraine where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited a church in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, and attended an exhibition dedicated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Unity Day is a national holiday celebrated annually on 22 January.
It marks the day in 1919 that the Unification Act was signed.
The act brought together the Ukraine People’s Republic and Western Ukraine People’s Republic into one independent country.
Yet Ukraine’s independence in 1919 was short-lived, as the Soviets soon took over most of Ukraine’s territory.
Marking the day, Ukrainian World Congress president Paul Grod said that this year, more than ever, Ukrainians around the world are united.
“Today, after almost a year of Russia’s brutal full-scale war of aggression, Ukrainians around world are united like never before and are standing fearlessly in defence of their families and homeland,” Mr Grod said.
“I am confident that together we will be victorious and liberate all the Ukrainian people suffering under Russia’s torturous occupation.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also released a statement marking the historic day, focusing on the “close bilateral relationship” between the two countries.
“Canada’s ties with Ukraine run deep. We are home to the second-largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world, with over 1.4 million people of Ukrainian descent living in this country today,” he said.
“On this Day of Unity, we stand together against violence, authoritarianism, and threats to democracy.
“We honour the lives tragically lost in the fight to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence.”
A 67-year-old woman was killed in the eastern region of Kharkiv after Russian missiles hit a residential building.
Kharkiv Oblast governor Oleh Syniehubov confirmed the news on Facebook.
The village, which is located close to the Russian border, was struck around 2.30pm.
In the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces have launched a missile strike on critical infrastructure, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in its evening briefing.
Speaking at a joint news conference Mr Macron said that he does not rule out the possibility of sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.
He said that sending tanks must not escalate the situation and must take into account the time to effectively train Ukrainians, whilst not endangering France’s own security.
“Regarding the Leclercs, I asked the army minister to work on it, but nothing has been ruled out,” he said.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Mr Scholz said that all future decisions on weapons deliveries will be made in coordination with allies, including the United States.
When confronted about the mounting pressure on the country to provide tanks to Ukraine, Mr Scholz said that all weapons deliveries to Ukraine so far have taken place in close coordination with Western partners.
France and Germany sought to overcome differences laid bare by Russia’s war in Ukraine, while marking 60 years since a landmark treaty sealed a bond between the long-time enemies.
Around 300 politicians from both countries came together at the Sorbonne University in Paris for a day of ceremonies and talks on Sunday.
Both countries have contributed significant weaponry to Ukraine, but the war has exposed differences in strategy between the two.
Most notably European talks have focused on how to deal with the resulting energy crisis and punishing inflation, as well as over future military investment.
“Putin’s imperialism will not win,” German chancellor Olaf Scholz said of the war in Ukraine during the ceremony.
“We will not allow Europe to revert to a time when violence replaced politics and our continent was torn apart by hatred and national rivalries.”
The city of Bakhmut is almost under siege.
As you approach, the rumbling percussion of artillery echoes all around – it’s the sound of a coming storm.
The first thing that draws your eye is the smoke from shelling in the centre, spiralling up against a bruised skyline.
Russia‘s advance is choking routes into this desperate place, which is at the epicentre of this war.
We travelled on one of the remaining roads in.
You can read Sky’s international correspondent, Alex Rossi’s, full eyewitness account from Bakhmut below…
Retired Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bell explains why Western tanks given to Ukraine could prove decisive against Russian forces – and why Germany is reluctant to supply them.
Berlin is facing increasing pressure to allow the shipment of German-made Leopard 2 tanks and recent talks have failed to convince the country to send them to Ukraine.
Marshal Bell says this is not Germany “being difficult” but “as ever, it’s tied up in history”.
Watch his full explanation of why world actions post-WW2 are behind this decision here…
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