Russia captures eastern Ukrainian village – DW – 03/21/2024

While speaking at a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged European allies to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems so it can protect its entire territory.

Ukraine was high on the agenda at the summit, with leaders discussing a proposal to use seized Russian assets to supply Ukraine with weapons, a plan towards which Zelenskyy voiced his support, as well as mulling “radical” steps toward a bloc-wide defense strategy.

“The existing air defense systems are not enough to protect our entire territory from Russian terror,” he stressed, adding that Ukraine had managed to shoot down dozens of Russian missiles over Kyiv.

“It’s not a matter of hundreds of systems, but of an achievable number — to protect all the territory of Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy thanked allies for providing €5 billion as part of the Ukraine Assistance Fund and hailed a Czech-led initiative to purchase artillery shells. However, he said “Europe can provide more” and urged allies to provide Kyiv with more ammunition to push back Russian forces.

Ukraine’s president said that the country had “once again become a donor of food security for our traditional export destinations — North Africa and Asia.” He said that Europe stands to benefit from cooperation with Kyiv on trade.

He said it was “unfair” that Russian and Belarusian products were still being transported into Europe and urged against “trade separatism” that seeks to put tariffs on Ukrainian goods.

Russia’s artillery shell production has more than doubled over the past year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.

“After the start of operation of the new facilities, the volume of production actually increased by almost 2.5 times,” Shoigu was quoted as saying at a meeting with weapons manufacturers.

The production of individual artillery components has ramped up to an even greater extent, he added.

“If we talk about the manufacture of artillery ammunition, the volume of production of components for this ammunition has been increased almost 22 times, 75% of components are being restored,” Shoigu said.

Russia is racing to rearm faster than the West can supply Ukraine. Earlier this month, US broadcaster  CNN reported that Russia is producing nearly three times as many artillery munitions for the war in Ukraine as the United States and Europe combined.

Hungary and Slovakia have said they will not join a Czech-led initiative to procure and send weapons to Ukraine, underscoring divisions in Central Europe on arms deliveries to Kyiv.

“Hungary has not and will not deliver any weapons to Ukraine,”  Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told a press conference in Prague. “”We don’t take part in any common actions which end up In joint weapon deliveries.”

Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said Bratislava would not provide arms as it believes that “the conflict doesn’t have a military solution.”

Poland, in contrast, said it would contribute logistically and financially to the Czech-led plan.

“We are very happy to contribute, not only financially but to a very efficient logistical operation so that the ammunition can get to where it’s needed on the front,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.

The Visegrad Group of countries — which is made up of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — remains divided on the issue of arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said earlier this month that the Prague-led ammunition initiative had raised enough so far to purchase a first batch of 300,000 artillery shells.

Ukraine has said that it is running low on artillery ammunition it needs to defend entrenched positions along the frontline.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the Patriot air defense system supplied to Ukraine by the United States.

He made the comments following overnight Russian aerial strikes on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

“Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing Patriot and other leading world systems,” Zelenskyy said on the platform X, formerly Twitter.

He called for the delivery of new systems to protect the entire country.

“This protection is required in Ukraine now. From Kyiv to Kharkiv, Sumy to Kherson, and Odesa to the Donetsk region,” he stressed.

“This is entirely possible if our partners demonstrate sufficient political will,” he said.

Ukrainian authorities say that 13 people were wounded in Russia’s aerial onslaught. Four of them have been hospitalized.

Russian forces have captured the village of Tonenke in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, according to Moscow’s Defense Ministry.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine’s General Staff said Kyiv’s forces had repelled 14 Russian army attacks near six villages in the Donetsk region, including Tonenke.

“The Russian armed forces liberated the village of Tonenke,” the Russian ministry said in its daily briefing.

Tonenke lies around 10 kilometers (six miles) west of the city of Avdiivka, which was captured by Russia last month.

The battle for Avdiivka was one of the bloodiest in all the war.

On Tuesday, Russia said its forces had captured the village of Orlivka, which lies north of Tonenke.

sdi/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)