Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below:
news of the day
Westerners have finally heard kyiv’s call for the delivery of heavy tanks. Many countries have mobilized and Ukraine is preparing to receive “between 120 and 140”, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba said on Tuesday, recalling that it was Leopard 2 of German design, British Challenger 2s and American Abrams.
This is the first time that kyiv has revealed the total number of these tanks that its Western allies have promised it. In recent days, several countries have expressed their intention to quickly supply these vehicles to Ukraine, like the United Kingdom which intends to supply Challengers at the end of March and Germany which intends to send its first Leopard 2s “at the end of March -At the beginning of April “. Washington, for its part, announced the dispatch of 31 Abrams.
sentence of the day
At the moment there is no official discussion about the transfer of Polish F-16s to Ukraine. The subject does not exist”.
These are the words of the Polish Deputy Defense Minister, Wojciech Skurkiewicz, who, the day after the United States refused to deliver these machines to kyiv, cut the discussion short. Poland has 48 American-made F-16 fighter jets. “All our steps aimed at strengthening the defense forces of Ukraine, we coordinate them with our NATO partners”, the head of government Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday, before adding: “as there are some months, within the framework of [avions de chasse de conception soviétique] MIG, any new air force will be put in place and possibly transferred in consultation with NATO countries. We will act in full coordination. »
The number of the day
12. This is the number of additional 155 mm Caesar guns that France will provide to kyiv, in addition to the 18 pieces already delivered, as well as anti-aircraft means, announced Tuesday the French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu. These medium-range guns will be delivered “in the coming weeks” and will be “financed as part of the support fund of 200 million euros” set up by France, said the minister during a press conference. common with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiï Reznikov.
The trend of the day
In the aftermath of kyiv’s denial of the capture of Vougledar by Russian troops, Russia once again claimed the capture of a village. This is Blagodatné, north of the city of Bakhmout, in eastern Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense indicated in its daily press release that “the locality of Blagodatné had been liberated” after an offensive by “volunteer assault units” supported by aviation and artillery.
Volunteers are the euphemism used by the Russian army, the latter being the members of paramilitary groups, such as Wagner, fighters in Ukraine. Moreover, the boss of Wagner, the sulphurous Evguéni Prigojine, had claimed the capture of the village by his men on Saturday, which kyiv had denied in the process. As a reminder, the Russian army and Wagner have been trying since the summer to take Bakhmout, a city where 70,000 people lived before the conflict. For several weeks, they have intensified their offensive to encircle the locality, taking the town of Soledar in January, at the cost of heavy losses, and the neighboring villages.