Ukraine will soon receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States, which Washington promised Kiev at the beginning of the year, the host of the meeting, American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, announced at the meeting of the contact group for Ukraine at the Ramstein base in Germany.
According to Austin, the US will deliver the first Abrams tanks to Ukraine in the coming days, and will complete the delivery in a few days. “This is a commitment to long-term security in Europe and beyond,” he emphasized.
The tanks will be equipped with 120mm depleted uranium rounds. This ammunition has been linked by experts to health problems such as cancer and birth defects, but has not yet been proven to be the cause of these problems.
“As we meet here, the Ukrainian military is fighting hard to reclaim its sovereign territory from entrenched Russian invaders,” Austin said at a meeting that invited military officers and defense ministers from about 50 countries. He pointed out that the successes of the Ukrainian army in the context of the counter-offensive also depend on the resources provided to Kyiv by the contact group.
“Our shared commitment will be vital in the current struggles – and in the long road ahead,” Austin emphasized, adding that the United States also participates in the training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighter jets.
According to the US Defense Minister, time is not on the side of Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. “Time is never on the side of a dictator who starts an imperial war of his own choosing. And time is never on the side of aggression,” he also said and welcomed the new Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is absent from the meeting in Ramstein due to infection with the new coronavirus. In a recent interview with the German newspaper Bild, he announced that Germany will provide Ukraine with an additional aid package worth 400 million euros, which will mainly include ammunition and humanitarian aid.
Drone attack on Lviv
Russian forces carried out an overnight drone attack on the city of Lviv in western Ukraine. Several explosions rang out, the warehouse caught fire, and one person was injured.
The Ukrainian Air Force has confirmed that Lviv has been targeted by drone attacks, triggering air defenses. Mayor of Lviv Andrij Sadovji wrote on Telegram that he was in town one of the warehouses caught fire. “These were factory warehouses, there was nothing military in them,” said the governor of the region Maksim Kozicki.
Lviv, which lies near the border with Poland, is considered one of the safest in the country, but it has also been the target of shelling. Airstrikes in August killed three people in the city.
In total, the Ukrainian Air Force destroyed 27 out of 30 drones during the night, they added in Kyiv.
Drone attacks were also reported in the Mykolaiv region, the local governor wrote on Telegram Vitaly Kim. He explained that ten Russian drones were shot down over the region, and the falling debris damaged agricultural machinery in one of the companies, but there were no casualties.
The district of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region was the target of artillery attacks, the governor announced Sergius Lisak. Six houses were reportedly damaged, as well as the local gas pipeline. A 71-year-old man was injured and was taken to hospital, he added.
Questioned Russia’s place in the UN
Meanwhile, Zelenski arrived in New York, where he will address the United Nations General Assembly. Earlier, he visited a hospital on Staten Island where Ukrainian soldiers who have had their limbs amputated are being treated. On Wednesday, he is also expected to participate in a meeting of the Security Council. “Is there still a place for Russian terrorists in the United Nations? This is probably not a question for me, but for all members of the United Nations,” he said.
Zelenski also has a meeting with the Brazilian president in New York Inaciem Lula da Silvaand he will host it at the White House on Thursday Joe Biden.
Source: Rtvslo
