WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Officials: US to send Ukraine $300 million in military aid

The U.S. is sending Ukraine about $300 million in additional military aid, including an enormous amount of artillery rounds, howitzers, air-to-ground rockets and ammunition as the launch of a spring offensive against Russian forces approaches, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The new package includes Hydra-70 rockets, which are unguided rockets that are fired from aircraft. It also includes an undisclosed number of rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, mortars, howitzer rounds, missiles and Carl Gustaf anti—tank rifles. The weapons will all be pulled from Pentagon stocks, so they can go quickly to the front lines. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not yet been formally announced.

The latest shipment comes as Ukrainian officials say they are readying a counteroffensive — with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov declaring they are in the “home stretch, when we can say: ‘Yes everything is ready.’” Ukrainian officials have said they are stockpiling ammunition to stow it along potentially long supply lines.

Reznikov said Monday that the key things for the assault’s success would be “the availability of weapons; prepared, trained people; our defenders and defenders who know their plan at their level, as well as providing this offensive with all the necessary things — shells, ammunition, fuel, protection, etc.”

The U.S. in recent months has declined to say exactly how much material will be sent to Ukraine, but the latest package resembles other previous deliveries. Officials said there will also be trucks, trailers, spare parts, and other maintenance assistance.

This is the 37th package of Pentagon stocks to go to Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, and it brings the total U.S. military aid to about $36 billion.

Officials have said the weapons and other equipment will help as Ukraine prepares to shift from what has been a long and bloody winter stalemate, focused on heavy fighting in Ukraine’s east, particularly around the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk province.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia was continuing to concentrate its efforts on offensive operations in Ukraine’s industrial east, focusing attacks around Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka.

** Blast causes another freight train to derail in Russia region near Ukraine

An explosion derailed a freight train for the second day in a row in a Russian region bordering Ukraine on Tuesday, sending both the locomotive and some cars off the tracks, authorities said.

The incident occurred in the western Bryansk region, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus. Russian officials say pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups have made multiple attacks there since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

"An unidentified explosive device went off near the Snezhetskaya railway station. There were no casualties," Bryansk regional governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on Telegram.

"As a result of the incident, a locomotive and several wagons of a freight train derailed," he added, without saying who was responsible.

Tass news agency, citing law enforcement agencies, said fire fighters were working at the scene and two recovery trains had been dispatched to the area. Local prosecutors had begun an investigation into the derailment, it added.

Operator Russian Railways earlier said around 20 wagons had come off the tracks due to "unauthorised interference". Snezhetskaya is just to the southeast of Bryansk.

A freight train derailed around 150 km (90 miles) to the west of Bryansk on Monday after a blast. Pictures of that incident shared on social media showed several tank carriages lying on their side and dark grey smoke billowing into the air.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Three Ukrainian military jets downed in a day – Moscow

Russian forces have shot down three Ukrainian warplanes in a single day, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow said on Tuesday. 

The ministry claimed that air defense systems had destroyed two Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets over Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Kherson Region, where a Ukrainian Su-25 close-support aircraft was also brought down.

The Russian military also intercepted eight US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) missiles and disabled six Ukrainian drones, the ministry added.

Russian forces have, according to the ministry, destroyed a total of 416 warplanes, 230 helicopters, and almost 4,000 unmanned aerial vehicles since the start of the conflict with Kiev in February of last year. 

While sustaining losses, Ukraine has received a number of Soviet-era MiG-29 jets from its Western backers, most notably Slovakia and Poland. The two countries have pledged to support Kiev with around two dozen jets, with the first deliveries already beginning to arrive. 

Ukraine has on numerous occasions called for its allies to deliver modern warplanes such as F-16s, although its requests have thus far not been granted.  

Russia has repeatedly warned the West that arms deliveries to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted in early February that Western deliberations about sending warplanes to Kiev not only highlight their “growing involvement” in the hostilities, but also lead to rising tensions.

** Blasts again reported in Ukraine’s capital Kiev, surrounding regions

Another series of blasts, the third one since midnight, was reported in Ukraine’s capital Kiev and the surrounding Kiev region in the early hours of Wednesday, the Klimenko Time news portal reported.

Explosions also resumed in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk.

Later on Wednesday, similar reports came from the central Ukrainian city of Kropivnitsky, the administrative center of the Kirovograd Region, the Zerkalo Nedeli media outlet said. An air raid alert was issued for the region.

Blasts were also reported in the central Ukrainian region of Cherkasy, the TSN news agency reported. According to preliminary reports, the explosions were caused by the work of missile defense systems.

Currently, civil defense sirens are wailing in Ukraine’s regions of Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Sumy, Chernigov, Kirovograd, Poltava and Cherkasy as well as in the capital Kiev and the surrounding Kiev Region.

AP/Reuters/RT/TASS