The Ukrainian leader wants a much-needed victory for democracy against tyranny. The Kremlin, in turn, is preparing for a long war. The news at a glance.
After attending the virtual world summit for democracy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that democracy absolutely needs a victory as soon as possible. Russia, meanwhile, is preparing for a long war against Ukraine and the West.
Zelenskyj: Democracy needs a victory
“And we all together – Ukrainians, all Europeans, our American allies, our friends on all continents – in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australia – will do everything to bring this victory closer,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video address yesterday. “The victory of Ukraine, the victory of freedom, the victory for the rules-based international order.”
The US co-hosted the virtual summit with Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia. US President Joe Biden had already invited to a virtual meeting of this kind in December 2021. Zelenskyy underlined Biden’s leading role in the consolidation of the democratic world. “And this unity, as we see, is enough to fight for freedom,” he said. “But to win the battle against tyranny, we need more unity.”
Kremlin expects long conflict with West
According to the Kremlin, Russia is preparing for a long war with the West over Ukraine. “This is a confrontation with enemy states, with unfriendly countries, this is a hybrid war that they launched against our country. This is for a long time,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday. “Here we need toughness, self-conviction, determination and unity around the President.”
Kiev Air Force Spokesman: Need modern jets
According to its spokesman Yuri Ihnat, Ukraine’s air force “urgently” needs modern combat aircraft. “Neither Polish nor Czech Migs help us, nor do Mirages or Tornados,” said Ihnat on Ukrainian television on Wednesday. While the Migs received from neighbors are a welcome and necessary reinforcement, what Ukraine needs is fourth-generation multirole fighters, such as the American F-16. Since the training of pilots and ground staff on these machines is “not a simple process”, a decision “if possible yesterday” would be necessary.
Spain supplies tanks but no fighter jets
Spain wants to deliver ten older Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, but has ruled out sending fighter jets. The delivery of the first six tanks will take place in two weeks, Defense Secretary Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.
Kyiv Announces “Swarm of Drones Mathias Rust”
After the repeated Russian attacks with so-called kamikaze drones on Ukrainian cities, the Ukrainian military wants to pay back in the same coin. The secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, announced counterattacks with his own drones, which he said were combined in a “Ukrainian swarm Mathias Rust” – in memory of the German Kremlin pilot. There are already “several thousand drones with a range of up to 3000 kilometers,” Danilow claimed on Twitter.
The German private pilot Mathias Rust landed on May 28, 1987 with a single-engine Cessna on the Moskva Bridge in front of the Kremlin. He had previously taken off from Finland and flew under the entire Soviet anti-aircraft defence. Rust wanted to demonstrate with his action for world peace. His flight was followed by a wave of purges at the top echelons of the Soviet military.
Russian partial success in Bachmut
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian military leadership conceded a partial Russian success in the fighting for the city of Bakhmut in the east of the country. “In the Bakhmut sector, the enemy continued their attacks on the city, partly with success,” the general staff in Kiev said in its daily situation report. However, details of the Russian land gains were not given.
Deputy Minister: Russian losses higher
For the first time, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar gave more concrete insights into the losses of the armed forces. Accordingly, the number of dead on the Russian side is significantly higher than on the Ukrainian side. “There are days in the East when the ratio of casualties (fatalities) is 1 to 10,” she shared on Telegram yesterday. “It’s not the case every day, of course, and the average ratio is lower, but still.”
The Ukrainian military has not yet provided any information on its own losses since the war began more than a year ago. On the other hand, a daily statistic is published with the alleged losses of the Russian military. According to this, the Russian armed forces have so far suffered over 172,000 deaths. The Russian military, for its part, does not provide any information on its own losses. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace estimated Russian casualties in the dead and wounded at around 220,000 on Wednesday, Sky News reported.
What is important today
New fighting is expected around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Zelenskyj speaks today via video link in front of the Austrian Parliament.