NATO: Ukraine can expect more Western heavy weapons

It follows Kyiv’s requests to its allies for the vehicles, artillery and missiles it says are key to defending itself.

Ukraine has been using the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) against Russian forces. Picture: AFP

Kyiv can expect more deliveries of heavy weapons from Western countries soon, NATO said on Sunday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his forces after their claimed capture of a Ukraine town.

Dramatic rescue efforts unfolded at a tower block in the eastern city of Dnipro, shattered by a Russian missile strike that left at least 36 people dead and an estimated 30 people missing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the Russian people’s “cowardly silence” over the attack, noting Ukraine had received messages of sympathy from around the world over “this terror”.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine could expect more heavy weapons following Kyiv’s requests to its allies for the vehicles, artillery and missiles it says are key to defending itself.

“The recent pledges for heavy warfare equipment are important – and I expect more in the near ­future,” Mr Stoltenberg told Germany’s Handelsblatt daily, ahead of a meeting this week of a group that co-ordinates arms supplies to Kyiv.

People stay warm as emergency workers search the remains of a residential building that was struck by a Russian missile in Dnipro, Ukraine. Picture: Getty Images

Days after Russia claimed to have taken Soledar in eastern Ukraine, a salt-mining outpost home to 10,000 before the conflict, Mr Putin hailed it as a major success. “There is a positive dynamic, everything is developing according to plans,” Mr Putin said, in an interview broadcast on Sunday. “I hope that our fighters will please us more than once again.”

Russia’s defence ministry announced last week it had “completed the liberation” of Soledar.

This could be a key gain as Russian forces push towards what has been their main target since October: the nearby transport crossroads of Bakhmut.

Ukraine has denied Moscow’s claims, insisting heavy fighting continues in Soledar.

But on Sunday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said “Ukrainian forces are highly unlikely to still hold positions within the settlement of Soledar itself”.

Russia’s victory there, if that is what it proves to be, follows months of humiliating setbacks.

Both sides have conceded heavy losses in the battle for the town. Rescuers in Dnipro meanwhile continued their search for survivors of Saturday’s missile strike on the tower block.

Dozens of people were also wounded in the attack, said ­regional adviser Natalia Babachenko in televised comments.

A 15-year-old girl was among the dead, officials said, after dozens of people were pulled from the rubble, including a woman brought out by rescuers on Sunday. Ms Babachenko said “between 30 an 40 people are still under the rubble”.

According to the Ukrainian army, the block was hit by a Kh-22 Russian missile it lacked the ­capacity to shoot down.

“Only anti-aircraft missile systems, which in the future may be provided to Ukraine by Western partners … are capable of intercepting these air targets,” it said.

The Kremlin denied responsibility for the strike.

“The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure, they strike military targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Washington joined a growing chorus of condemnation for the attack. “Yesterday’s strikes are another example of the brutal and barbaric war Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people,” said a US National Security Council spokesperson.

At least 36 people were reported dead after the Dnipro attack. Picture: Getty Images

On Saturday, Mr Zelensky pleaded for more Western weaponry, saying Russian “terror” could be stopped only on the battlefield.

Earlier this month, France, Germany and the US respectively promised French AMX-10 RC light tanks, 40 German Marder ­infantry vehicles and 50 Bradley fighting vehicles.

However, pressure is growing on the allies to go further and agree to delivery of battle tanks. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged on Saturday to ­provide 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, making it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for.

Russia’s embassy in Britain warned “bringing tanks to the conflict zone … will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population”.

Ukraine on Sunday was still reeling from Saturday’s barrage, the 12th wave of missile attacks.

Energy operator Ukrenergo said infrastructure was “being ­restored” but the attacks had meant power cuts might increase.

Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the military administration in the southern Kherson region, said it was again under “massive attack”.

Russian strikes had hit civilian and critical infrastructure, including Red Cross premises and a centre for disabled children, Mr Yanushevych said.

AFP