At dawn on Thursday, Ukrainian rescuers were busy trying to find survivors in the rubble of an apartment building in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, destroyed by a Russian strike that left at least two dead. At the same time, many observers, including the Ukrainian Defense Minister, believe that Moscow is preparing a new major offensive around February 24.
“We too must be ready as soon as possible, and that is why we need weapons, to contain the enemy”, insisted the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksiï Reznikov, invited Wednesday evening on BFM TV. “We do not underestimate our enemy. We see that he is preparing very seriously for the offensive”, continued Oleksiï Reznikov. “We think that since they live in symbolism, they will try to try something around February 24,” continued the minister. According to him, “they can attempt a two-axis offensive”, in Dombass and the south.
kyiv calls for more weapons
After a series of humiliating reverses in the fall, against a single strong position taken at Soledar, Russia mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists. Associated with the paramilitary group Wagner, the Russian army has also intensified the fighting, in particular to take Bakhmout, a city in the East that it has been pounding since the summer. Further south, Russia also undertook a heavy offensive on Vougledar.
Faced with this threat, Ukraine is engaged in a race against time to obtain more powerful armaments. In particular, it wants high-precision missiles with a range of more than 100 kilometers to destroy Russian supply lines in order to overcome its shortfall in manpower and armament.
So far, the West has refused to deliver these systems and combat aircraft, for fear of an escalation with Russia. Last week, after long procrastination, Europeans and Americans gave the green light to deliveries of modern heavy tanks, even if their number is still below what Ukraine is asking for.