Ammunition for the armaments supplied to the Ukrainians became the priority and the problem of the allies. Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, sounded the alarm Monday, February 13, saying that the production rate of factories in the alliance countries did not follow the needs of the army in Kiev.
“The current rate of ammunition use by Ukraine is much higher than our current rate of production,” warned Jens Stoltenberg. “This is depleting our stocks and putting our defense industries under pressure,” he added, calling for increased production rates on the one hand and investment in production capacities on the other.
NATO engaged in a logistics race on ammunition
The members of NATO will try this Tuesday, February 14 to accelerate their deliveries of armaments and ammunition to Ukraine and will discuss the supply of combat aircraft to enable it to resist the new offensive prepared by Russia during of the meeting of the support group for Ukraine led by the United States.
The Allies have pledged to provide Ukraine with artillery, armored vehicles and tanks, anti-aircraft defense systems and “other commitments will be made” this Tuesday morning, assured Monday Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary general of the transatlantic organization.
“We are in a logistics race for key capabilities, […] Vladimir Putin is not preparing for peace. He launches new offensives. We must therefore continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to win,” he insisted, stressing that Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov would be present in Brussels. “Ammunition, fuel and spare parts spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can take the initiative on the battlefield”, he continued. Through the voice of its President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited last week in London, Paris and Brussels, Ukraine is calling for fighter planes and long-range missiles.
A “complicated” situation north of Bakhmout, where the Russians are advancing
Ukraine on Monday acknowledged a “complicated” situation north of Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting in the east of the country, where the Russian army claimed the capture of a new village, continuing its attempt to encircle this fortress city of Donbass.
A pre-war city of some 70,000, Bakhmout was largely destroyed by more than six months of fighting that caused heavy casualties on both sides. While its strategic importance is disputed, the city has acquired a status as a symbol of the struggle between Moscow and kyiv for control of this industrial eastern region.
After several months marked by artillery duels without significant gains on the ground, Russian troops have made progress in recent weeks, particularly north of Bakhmout, where they captured the town of Soledar and its salt mines last month. The situation is “complicated” in the village of Paraskoviïvka, south of Soledar and about ten kilometers from the center of Bakhmout, which “faces intense bombing and assaults” Russian, recognized Monday the Ukrainian presidency.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, “the adversary is constantly changing tactics”. “Sometimes he attacks in small assault groups, then he uses dozens of people mobilized for an assault. Sometimes he multiplies the night bombardments, systematically hits the rear cities with missiles”, he detailed.
JO-2024: Russian athletes can only participate if they denounce the war, according to Vitali Klitschko
Russian athletes should take a public stand against the war in Ukraine if they want to be allowed to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said Monday the mayor of Kiev and former world boxing champion, Vitali Klitschko.
“Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot participate in the Olympics in Paris if they do not say ‘No’ to war. If they say so publicly, they will be able to, but they are afraid,” he said. in an interview with AFP. “To every Russian athlete, tell your government, the Russian president to stop this senseless war”, added the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, believing that it was not possible to be “neutral when people, women, children are killed”. “You are either for or against war,” he said.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the end of January proposed a roadmap advocating their return under a neutral flag.
kyiv needs ‘thousands of additional generators’, mayor says
Vitali Klitschko said Monday he needed “thousands” of additional generators, three days after another massive Russian attack targeting energy sites in Ukraine. “We need more, thousands more. We received almost a thousand but we have 500 nurseries, 500 schools” in the Ukrainian capital, the mayor of Kiev told AFP. According to him, Kiev is today “better prepared against Russian attacks, against Russian missiles and drones than a few months ago”, but he says he is “still worried about electricity and heating”.
Since last October and after multiple setbacks on the ground, Moscow has frequently targeted so-called “essential” Ukrainian sites, plunging millions of inhabitants into the cold and the dark, in the middle of winter.