Ukraine war: Fighting heats up in east, north after tank pledges

NEAR VUHLEDAR, Ukraine - Ukraine on Friday battled Russian troops trying to pierce its lines in the east and north-east, and artillery bombardments intensified after

Western allies promised the Kyiv government they would send them tanks

to repel the invaders.

Kyiv said fierce battles were under way, a day after

at least 11 people were killed in missile and drone strikes

which were seen in Ukraine as a response to the promises by important allies to send it tanks.

After weeks of wrangling, Germany and the United States this week said they would send Ukraine dozens of modern tanks to help push back Russian forces, opening the way for other countries to follow suit.

Poland gave Ukraine a further boost on Friday by promising an additional 60 tanks on top of 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it had already pledged.

Both sides in the war are expected to launch spring offensives, though Washington has advised Ukraine to wait until the latest weapons are in place and training has been provided - a process expected to take several months.

Moscow accused US President Joe Biden of prolonging the war by arming Kyiv. Ukraine says the only way to end the war is for allies to give it the weapons to win it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation at the front remained extremely acute, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region.

In a Friday evening address, Mr Zelensky said Russian forces were not just storming Ukrainian positions but also destroying the towns and villages around them.

In Bohoiavlenka village in Donetsk region, soldiers said fighting around the nearby town of Vuhledar had intensified, with Russian troops constantly trying to advance and capture it.

Vuhledar had come under intense shelling in the past 24 hours, with seven buildings and two schools damaged, Mr Yevhen Nazarenko, spokesman for the Ukraine army’s 68th brigade, told Reuters.

“They constantly use artillery fire, aviation. There is no single quiet minute here,” he said.

“We kill them, they sustain big losses, but they don’t stop actions and keep sending new forces to capture our positions.”

Thick black smoke rose over Bohoiavlenka and explosions could be heard in the background. Some homes were damaged.

Mr Oleh Synehubov, governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv, said fierce fighting was continuing along the front lines there, but Ukrainian forces were holding out.

Power shortages

Millions of Ukrainians faced electricity shortages after Thursday’s missile and drone strikes, the latest to target energy facilities and deprive people of heat, light and water.

Russian air attacks hit five high-voltage substations in the central, southern and south-west regions on Thursday, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. Ukraine will need an additional US$17 billion (S$22 billion) in financing this year for energy repairs, de-mining and to rebuild infrastructure, he added.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with intense air strikes far from the front about weekly since October. Kyiv says the attacks serve no military purpose and aim to harm civilians, a war crime. Moscow says the strikes are intended to reduce Ukraine’s ability to fight.

The latest strikes focused on “facilities that operate Ukraine’s defence industrial complex and transport system,” it said. “The goals of the massive attack have been reached. All the assigned targets have been neutralised.”

After Ukraine recaptured land in the second half of 2022, front lines have been largely frozen for more than two months, with Russia trying to gain ground in the east and protect a corridor of land it has seized in southern Ukraine.

Mr Oleskandr Musiyenko, head of the Military and Strategic Research Centre of Ukraine, said Russia was sending in more reinforcements, mainly conscripts, to block Ukrainian advances.

“But they do not have the level of artillery and tank support they had on Feb 24,” Mr Musiyenko told Ukrainian television.

Children deported

Kyiv accuses Moscow of deporting children as well as adults from occupied areas and giving them Russian passports.

Mr Filippo Grandi, the UN’s refugee agency chief, said this violated “the fundamental principles of child protection in situations of war” and that Russia must stop it.

Japan tightened sanctions

on Friday, expanding an export ban list and freezing assets of Russian officials and entities.

But Ukraine’s hopes that the European Union will impose sanctions affecting nuclear energy were dealt a blow by Hungary, which said that it would veto such moves. Hungary has a Russian-built nuclear plant which it plans to expand.

Russia tightened its own moves against Western entities, with communications regulator Roskomnadzor saying it had

blocked the websites of the CIA and FBI.

Russia says it launched its “special military operation” to fend off a hostile West.

Ukraine and its allies say the invasion was an unprovoked act of aggression. REUTERS