The European Union pledged weapons and ammunition worth 2 billion euros to Ukraine even as Russia intensified attacks across the country.
Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said the timely delivery of weapons to Ukraine was important. He was speaking in Stockholm, following a gathering of EU defence ministers in the city. “We need to deliver more, but we need to deliver faster,” Borrel said, adding that the new commitment will see the boosting of ammunition deliveries to Ukraine.
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European Arms Stockpile Depelting?
The statement comes amid concerns that the stockpile of weapons with the European Union countries is depleting.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said a the meeting Kyiv needs one million ammunitions for 155-millimetre artillery systems, besides more infantry fighting vehicles. “Normally it would be nice to have 90,000 or 100,000 (ammunition rounds) per month to be ready to deter enemies and be ready to go with the counteroffensive campaign,” he said, according to Euronews.
Targeting Energy Infrastructure
Meanwhile, coordinated Russian strikes across Ukraine targeted energy infrastructure. Reports said more than half a dozen civilians were killed in Russian strikes. Air raid alarms went off in major cities including capital Kyiv as Russia resumed missile attacks across Ukraine after a gap. Besides Kyiv, Kharkiv in the northeast, as well as the southwestern region of Odesa saw air attacks that took down power installations.
BBC reported that more than 80 Russian missiles were fired at Ukrainian cities. In the western region of Lviv itself, as many as five people were killed in the Russian air strike.
Bakhmut My Fall
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said despite heavy Ukrainian resistance, the key city of Bakhmut will likely fall to the Russians in the coming days. “What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up in quantity,” Stoltenberg said in Stockholm.
“We cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days,” the head of the US-led military alliance said, adding that “this does not necessarily reflect any turning point of the war,” he added, according to Agence France-Presse.
In another alarming development, power connection to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was cut off as Russia targeted energy infrastructure nationwide.
“The last line of communication between the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP and the Ukrainian power system was cut off as a result of rocket attacks,” Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator Energoatom said.
