NU.nl regularly gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. With this time: a third of the promised ammunition from the European Union is in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Leopard tanks are being repaired in Poland and Russia is carrying out drone attacks on Kyiv again after a month.
One third of the first ammunition promised to Ukraine by the European Union has been delivered. These are deliveries with a value of more than 600 million euros, reports EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell. It mainly concerns the grenades for heavy artillery that Ukraine is desperate for. “The EU is doing everything it can to deliver, and fast,” says Borrell.
The EU will reimburse €1 billion worth of ammunition they can supply to Ukraine from their stockpiles. Ammunition from own stocks can reach the Ukrainian front faster than ammunition that has yet to be purchased.
In practice, Ukraine can count on ammunition for almost double the amount, because the member states, by agreement, supply more than they can ask for back from the union.
The EU is said to have trained more than 16,000 Ukrainian soldiers. In addition to weapons and ammunition, the country also urgently needs new soldiers. It is not clear what difference European ammunition supplies will make in the war.
Leopard tanks from Ukraine are being repaired in Poland
Germany and Poland open a workshop where Leopard tanks from Ukraine can be repaired. The workshop is set up in Poland. The countries reached an agreement with Kyiv on financing the repairs. According to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, setting up the repair point will cost around 200 million euros.
After much insistence, Western countries promised Ukraine dozens of modern German Leopard 2 tanks at the beginning of this year. Ukrainian soldiers are trained in the use of the tanks in Poland and Germany.
Western defense leaders discussed further military support to Ukraine on Friday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is now asking his allies for fighter jets and anti-aircraft defenses.
Ontvang meldingen bij nieuws over de oorlog in Oekraïne
Russian drone strikes on Kyiv
For the first time in almost a month, the Russians have again carried out drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Other areas in Ukraine have also been attacked by combat drones. It is unknown if there were any casualties.
According to the Ukrainian armed forces, eight of the ten attacks were repulsed. In the night from Thursday to Friday, air raid sirens went off throughout Ukraine.
Since last fall, Russian troops have been using Iranian-made combat drones.
Situation in Bakhmut is ‘under control’ according to Ukrainians
The Ukrainian government says the situation in Bakhmut is “tense but under control”. Russian troops have been trying to take the city in eastern Ukraine for months and have now captured large parts of it. Russia claims to own about 80 to 90 percent of the eastern Ukrainian city.
Only part of the west of the city is still in the hands of the Ukrainian army. But those soldiers refuse to leave the area for the time being.
The city is in ruins due to the ongoing fighting and is now virtually deserted, while it was home to some 80,000 people before the Russian invasion. The Russian armed forces want to advance further into eastern Ukraine from Bakhmut, something that the Ukrainian army wants to prevent at all costs.
Zelensky to NATO summit in Lithuania this summer
Zelensky will participate in the NATO summit in Lithuania next summer. “I’m glad he accepted the invitation,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.
Stoltenberg visited Zelensky for the first time since the Russian invasion on Thursday. It is not yet clear whether Zelensky really travels to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius or talks via video link. The president rarely ventured across the border during the war.
Zelensky hopes for a “historic summit”. He was referring to accelerating Ukraine’s entry into the Western military alliance, a fervent wish of Kyiv. According to insiders, NATO sees no room for the country to join soon, but is putting the issue “high on the agenda”, Stoltenberg assured.
0:45Russian fighter jet accidentally hits own city
In Belgorod, Russia, at least three people were injured after a Russian warplane shot at its own city, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Earlier, the Russian authorities announced that it was an accident. Belgorod is located near the border with Ukraine.
It is a Sukhoi SU-34, which is a supersonic fighter-bomber. The SU-34 was flying over the city when it accidentally fired a weapon. How that could have happened and what kind of weapon it is is not known.
The explosion created a crater with a diameter of 20 meters in one of the main streets of Belgorod. There is debris in the street and, according to the governor, there is damage to four cars and three buildings. He also reports that a damaged apartment building has been evacuated.
