Yesterday, Jan 27th, 2023, Ukraine battled Russian soldiers attempting to pierce its lines in the east and northeast. After Western allies promised to provide Ukraine with tanks to repel Russian invaders, artillery bombardments intensified.
Kyiv released a statement that Russian attacks were underway, one day after at least eleven people were killed in drone and missile attacks in Ukraine. The attacks ruined 35 buildings. On Thursday, Russian forces trained mortar, tank, and artillery fire on over sixty villages and towns.
According to Ukraine’s army command, its forces had repelled attacks from Russian troops in different places over the previous day. They struck control and command points, an ammunition depot, two artillery concentration areas, and a troop concentration. The Ukrainian military said it shot down 47 of 59 missiles on Thursday. Russia also launched 37 air strikes. Seventeen of these air strikes used Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. The military said it downed all the drones.
The attacks are a furious Russian response after vital allies agreed to send Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Earlier this week, the United States and Germany said they would provide Ukraine with dozens of modern tanks to help it push back Russian troops. They opened the way for other nations to follow suit. On Friday, Poland gave Ukraine an additional boost by promising to send it 60 tanks on top of the 14 Leopard 2 tanks it had pledged already.
When speaking on BM TV on Friday, Vadym Omelchenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to France, said several nations have already promised to deliver 321 heavy tanks to Ukraine. Ukraine also requested the United States for F16 fighter jets. John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said the government knows about the request but added they do not have extra weapons to speak about.
