war | The night at a glance: air alert across the country

On Sunday, the Ukrainian military chief demanded more weapons from NATO. Now his country is facing a new wave of attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his country’s foreign partners for their recent support of arms, money and other aid in the war against Russia. His army chief, Valery Zalushny, met with NATO commander Christopher Cavoli to discuss the current situation at the front. Heavy fighting continues there, with the strategically important city of Bakhmut at the heart of the action.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said he spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday about a new arms-aid package for Ukraine. “It is very important that Russia receives ever stronger signals that the world will not forgive Russia’s terror,” stressed Zelenskyy. Ukraine and its partners must act with the greatest possible unity and integrity “to protect our common values”.

He thanked “all the people in the world who are helping to reinforce the isolation of terrorists and to prevent any supply of weapons and their components to terrorists”. By “terrorists” Zelenskyy means the Russian military.

The Ukrainian leader thanked Denmark for the recent delivery of howitzers, Slovenia for armored vehicles, Spain for tanks and Germany for the planned delivery of more armored vehicles and shells. Ukraine will also receive $1.25 billion from the US to support its state budget. The Netherlands, in turn, are willing to train Ukrainian soldiers on modern weapons systems, Croatia will take care of the wounded soldiers, while Italy is ready to help with the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Ukrainian army chief Valeriy Zalushny meanwhile consulted with the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli. He informed the US general in detail about the situation along the fronts in Ukraine, Salushnyj said on Telegram on Sunday. “I have described possible scenarios, threats and prerequisites for our future actions.” Zalushny did not specify the location of the meeting. Experts assume that Ukraine is currently preparing for a spring offensive to recapture occupied territories.

During the meeting, he informed Cavoli about the need to provide Ukraine with a wide range of weapons and air defense systems that “would help to meet the challenges of countering Russian aggression,” Zalushny said.

Just ten days ago, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the Ukrainian capital of Kiev for the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression.

Heavy fighting for Bakhmut continues in the east of Ukraine attacked by Russia. Russian troops had taken four more parts of the city, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said in Moscow on Sunday. Like other information about the events of the war, this could not initially be independently verified. It was only on Saturday that it was said from Kiev that the Russians had so far failed in attempts to cut off Ukrainian supply routes to Bakhmut.

For months, Bachmut has been attacked jointly by the Russian army and the Wagner mercenary group. According to their own statements, the attackers now control around 85 percent of the city area.