Ukrainian cities feel Vladimir Putin’s wrath after tanks pledge
Russia accused the West of direct involvement in the war after the decision to send the heavy armour to Ukraine.
Eleven people were killed and 11 wounded on Thursday when Russian missiles were fired into Ukrainian cities, a day after the US and Germany pledged to send battle tanks to aid the country’s defence.
Air-raid warnings sounded across the country and residents of Kyiv took refuge in underground stations. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor, said one person had been killed in the capital, the first death from a missile attack there since New Year’s Eve.
A Ukrainian air force spokesman said missiles had been launched by Tu-95 strategic bombers that had taken off from the Murmansk region in the Arctic. The Ukrainian army said it had destroyed 47 of the 55 missiles launched by Russia.
Energy infrastructure in Odesa was damaged in the attack.
Russia accused the West of direct involvement in the war after the decision on Wednesday to send tanks to Ukraine.
“In the 21st century, the West is waging a campaign against Russia using the puppet Nazi regime in Kyiv,” Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s security council, was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency.
Ukraine has relied on Soviet-era T-72 tanks so far, but hopes that American-made Abrams tanks, German Leopards and British Challengers will alter the course of the conflict.
Germany has promised that the first consignment of at least 40 Leopards will arrive by the end of March – “in good time” to meet the expected Russian offensive in the spring, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.
In total, Germany and its partners hope to send Ukraine between 80 and 90 Leopard 2s, in addition to 31 M1 Abrams tanks from the US, 14 Challenger 2s from Britain, and possibly a number of Leclerc tanks from France.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said late on Thursday that “everything is going to plan” with the supply of Challengers.
Poland is expected to donate 14 slightly older models of the Leopard 2, with another eight coming from Norway and four from Canada. Finland and Spain have said they will take part in the tank coalition, although the Finnish defence minister said his country’s contribution would “not be very big” and Madrid may be hampered by opposition from left-wing parties in its governing coalition.
The Netherlands said it might buy and donate to Ukraine up to 18 Leopard 2 tanks that it rents from Germany. Portugal is expected to announce its participation in the next few days and Sweden and Denmark have said they are open to the idea of signing up.
Other European or NATO states with stocks of Leopard 2 tanks, including Greece, Turkey, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have been more reticent. Austria, which insists on its military neutrality, and Hungary, which has declined to supply Ukraine with weapons, are unlikely to make contributions.
The Agence France-Presse news agency reported on Thursday that an unnamed European state had asked Berlin for permission to send Ukraine German-made cluster munitions. These devices, which release a number of smaller subsidiary bombs on impact, are prohibited by an international treaty but neither Russia nor Ukraine is a signatory.
Turkey has denied reports that it is supplying Ukraine with US-manufactured cluster bombs.
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defence minister, said that the number of tanks being supplied by Western allies was unclear, but that 300 or 400 were needed to overcome the Russian forces.
“If you want missile terror to stop you need to receive the weapons that will allow us to defeat the enemy on the battlefield,” he told Today on BBC Radio 4.
“The sooner we defeat Russia on the battlefield using Western weapons, the sooner we will be able to stop this missile terror and restore peace.”
In an interview with Sky News, President Volodymyr Zelensky described President Vladimir Putin as a “nobody” who had shown at talks before he invaded Ukraine he was a “man who said one thing and then did another”.
Mr Zelensky said Boris Johnson, who visited Ukraine this week, was a “good guy”. He appeared to laugh at a suggestion that the former prime minister could take an official position representing Britain on Ukrainian affairs. “Who knows? With pleasure, with pleasure, really,” he said.
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