UK to give more artillery to Ukraine as Russia starts new offensive
The UK will give more artillery to Ukraine’s army to help them fight off Russia’s new offensive in the country’s East.
Boris Johnson today said the “urgency was greater” to arm Ukraine in light of Russia’s new push in the Donbas, while adding that the war “will become an artillery conflict, they need support with more artillery, that is what we will be giving them”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main objective now is to take the entire Donbas region in Ukraine’s East, after his invasion has failed to achieve any of its major objectives in nearly two months of fighting.
Putin’s forces have been diverted from other parts of Ukraine to mount new attacks on major Donbas targets, with Russia taking the town of Kreminna.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “The Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, for which they have been preparing for a long time.
“A significant part of the entire Russian army is now concentrated on this offensive. No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day.”
Johnson told MPs today that “Putin arrogantly assumed that he would capture Kyiv in a matter of days and now the blackened carcasses of his tanks and heavy armour litter approaches to the capital on both sides of the Dnieper [river] and are smouldering monuments to his failure”.