NATO claims Ukraine has received almost 100% of promised combat vehicles

1,550 armored vehicles, 230 war tanks and “large amounts of ammunition” are part of the aid delivered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to Ukraine.

This is more than 98% of the equipment promised by the alliance to kyiv to face the Russian war, confirmed this April 27 the general secretary of the political-military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg.

In addition, some NATO partner countries such as Sweden and Australia have also provided armored vehicles for the invaded nation’s defenses.

On the other hand, the representative of the organization led by the United States indicated that in total they have “trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian armored brigades. This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake the occupied territory.”

It is estimated that more than 30,000 troops will integrate these new military squads.

Stoltenberg stressed that the 31 allies of the alliance pledged to reinforce the Ukrainian Armed Forces and added that recovering the territories occupied by the Kremlin troops would give Kiev a stronger negotiating position in the event of eventual peace talks to culminate with the conflict that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24, 2022, which he refers to as a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine and which leaves thousands of deaths on both sides.

The expectation of a Ukrainian counteroffensive

With the prospects for peace undermined since the first phase of the war and human rights violations on the rise, Kiev announced last March a counteroffensive to recover its territories, including Crimea, a southern province that the Kremlin seized. annexed in 2014.

According to versions of their high military commanders, the operation would take place before the end of spring, in May, although they have not specified a date.

Confirmation of the delivery of the aid promised by NATO is key to kyiv’s next moves. So far, Ukraine has been waiting for weapons, preparation of its military personnel and better weather conditions.

Recently, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, which supports the Russian Army, indicated that the great Kiev offensive will probably begin on May 2 and warned that his fighters do not have enough ammunition.

“Ukrainian troops will start attacking next month, when the weather improves and the ground becomes hard (…) But we will advance at all costs just to crush the Ukrainian army and interrupt its offensive,” he said.

Prigozhin also alerted Moscow that kyiv is sending “well-trained” units to the besieged city of Bakhmut, where bloody battles have been fought for months.

On April 11, the Wagner leader assured that his group controls at least 80% of that town, one of the largest epicenters of hostilities where local troops resist.

The Kremlin maintains that capturing all of Bakhmut would allow its troops to launch further offensives in eastern Ukraine, but some analysts say the fall of that city would not mark a significant victory for Russia.

For now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly refused to withdraw his forces from there.

Meanwhile, Russian forces maintain their shelling throughout the country, especially in the greater Donbass region in the east and in the south of the nation, with continuous attacks on residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

Such is the case of Orikhiv, in the Zaporizhia oblast, where the correspondent for France 24, Catalina Gómez, verified the degree of destruction left by the Russian assaults. The few residents who remain in the city try to survive and cling to rebuild their lives every day.

“They destroy and we rebuild, this happens all the time, there are people who have had their houses destroyed five times, we have to cover them with plastic from the humanitarian tents because it is impossible to completely fix them,” Constantino, one of the residents, described. who resist in the town.

At least seven civilians killed in a Russian attack in Mikolaiv

One of the cities hardest hit by Russian assaults in the last two days is Mikolaiv, also in the south of the country. At least seven civilians died and 23 were injured by missile attacks by the invading troops that took place between Wednesday and Thursday, April 27, according to the Ukrainian Presidency.

“At night, Russia bombarded Mykolaiv with four Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea (…) The high-precision weapons were aimed at private houses, a historic building and another high-rise,” Zelensky said, adding that among the victims mortals is found at least one child.

The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, affirmed that the emergency services put out several fires caused by the remains of the projectiles.

Since launching the biggest conflict on European soil since World War Two, Russia has denied deliberately targeting civilians, but the large-scale assault has killed thousands, displaced millions and destroyed entire towns and cities.

With Reuters and AP