DNIPRO/KYIV, Ukraine – Russia and Belarus will start joint air pressure drills on Monday, which have triggered fears in Kyiv and the West that Moscow may use its ally to launch a brand new floor offensive in Ukraine.
Minsk says the drills are defensive, and since Moscow used its neighbor as a springboard for its invasion of Ukraine final February Belarus has performed quite a few navy workouts, each by itself and collectively with Russia.
Together with Moscow, Minsk has additionally been bolstering the drills with weaponry and navy tools.
Unofficial Telegram navy monitoring channels have been reporting a collection of fighters, helicopters and navy transport planes coming to Belarus for the reason that begin of the yr — eight fighters and 4 cargo planes on Sunday alone.
Reuters was not in a position to confirm the reviews. The Belarusian protection ministry mentioned solely that “units” of Russia’s air forces have been arriving in Belarus.
“During the tactical flight exercise, all airfields and training grounds of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus will be involved,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement.
The scenario on Belarus’s southern border — the border with Ukraine — was “not very calm,” and Ukraine has been “provoking” Belarus, mentioned Pavel Muraveyko, first deputy state secretary of Belarusian Security Council, in response to a submit on the Belarusian protection ministry’s Telegram app on Sunday.
“We’re maintaining restraint and patience, keeping our gunpowder dry,” Muraveyko mentioned. “We have the necessary set of forces and means that will respond to any manifestations of aggression or a terrorist threat on our territory.”
Ukraine has repeatedly warned of potential assaults from Belarus and President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned final week that the nation have to be prepared at its border with Belarus.
The Kremlin has denied that it has been pressuring Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to take a extra energetic function within the battle in Ukraine. Minsk has mentioned it is not going to enter the conflict.
Little hope of extra survivors
Ukraine noticed little hope of pulling any extra survivors from the rubble of an residence block within the metropolis of Dnipro on Sunday, a day after the constructing was hit throughout a significant Russian missile assault, with dozens of individuals anticipated to have died.
The regional governor’s adviser, Natalia Babachenko, mentioned 30 folks have been confirmed lifeless thus far and greater than 30 have been in hospital, together with 12 in a critical situation. Between 30 to 40 folks may nonetheless be trapped beneath particles, she mentioned.
Emergency employees mentioned that they had heard folks screaming for assist from beneath piles of particles from the nine-storey residence block within the east-central metropolis and have been utilizing moments of silence to assist direct their efforts. Freezing temperatures added to rescuers’ considerations.
“The chances of saving people now are minimal,” Dnipro’s Mayor Borys Filatov instructed Reuters. I believe the variety of lifeless might be within the dozens.”
Ukraine’s Air Force said the apartment block was struck by a Russian Kh-22 missile, which is known to be inaccurate and that Ukraine lacks the air defenses to shoot down. The Soviet-era missile was developed during the Cold War to destroy warships.
Russia fired two waves of missiles at Ukraine on Saturday, striking targets across the country as fighting raged on the battlefield in the eastern towns of Soledar and Bakhmut.
Moscow, which invaded last February, has been pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones since October, causing sweeping blackouts and disruptions to central heating and running water.
Appeal for more weapons
In his nightly address after the Dnipro strike, Zelensky called on Western allies to supply more weapons to end “Russian terror” and attacks on civilian targets.
Western powers are considering sending battle tanks to Kyiv and ahead of a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Ramstein in Germany next Friday, where governments will announce their latest pledges of military support.
On Saturday, Britain followed France and Poland with promises of further weapons, saying it would send 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks as well as other advanced artillery support in the coming weeks.
The first despatch of Western-made tanks to Ukraine is likely to be viewed by Moscow as escalation of the conflict. The Russian Embassy in London said the tanks would drag out the confrontation.
Russia’s invasion, which Moscow calls a “particular navy operation”, has already killed thousands, displaced millions and turned many cities into rubble.
Soledar
In Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region — the focal point of Russia’s drive to capture more territory — Ukraine’s forces were battling around the small salt-mining town of Soledar.
Russian forces claimed to have taken control of the town, but Ukraine insisted on Sunday that its forces were battling to hold the town, with street fighting raging and Russian forces advancing from various directions.
“Put merely, THE BATTLE CONTINUES,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app. “Everything else is unverified info.”
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War mentioned it was extremely unlikely that Ukrainian forces nonetheless held positions inside Soledar itself.
Reuters couldn’t instantly confirm the scenario within the city. —Reuters
