Ukraine says fighting fierce after tank pledges, seeks more arms

Poland gave Ukraine a further boost on Friday by promising an additional 60 tanks on top of 14 Germanmade Leopard 2 tanks it had already pledged.

KYIV — Ukraine on Friday battled Russian troops trying to pierce its lines in the east and northeast before Kyiv takes delivery of tanks from its Western allies, saying the fighting showed it needed more weapons to repel the invaders.

Kyiv said fierce battles were under way, a day after at least 11 people were killed in missile and drone strikes which were widely seen in Ukraine as a response to the promises by important allies to send it tanks.

After weeks of wrangling, Germany and the United States this week said they would send Ukraine dozens of modern tanks to help push back Russian forces, opening the way for other countries to follow suit.

Poland gave Ukraine a further boost on Friday by promising an additional 60 tanks on top of 14 Germanmade Leopard 2 tanks it had already pledged.

Both sides in the war are expected to launch spring offensives, though Washington has advised Ukraine to wait until the latest weapons are in place and training has been provided — a process expected to take several months.

Moscow accused U.S. President Joe Biden of prolonging the war by arming Kyiv. Ukraine says the only way to end the war is for allies to give it the weapons to win it.

“This evil, this Russian aggression can and should be stopped only with adequate weapons. The terrorist state will not understand anything else,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly television address on Thursday.

Ukrainian officials reported fierce battles in the northeast and east of the country, scene of some of the heaviest combat since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24 last year.

“Fierce fighting continues along the front lines,” said Oleh Synehubov, governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv, adding that Ukrainian forces were holding out.

POWER SHORTAGES

Millions of Ukrainians faced electricity shortages after Thursday’s missile and drone strikes, the latest to target energy facilities and deprive people of heat, light and water.

Russian air attacks hit five high-voltage substations in the central, southern and south-west regions on Thursday,

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. Ukraine will need an additional US$17 billion in financing this year for energy repairs, de-mining and to rebuild infrastructure, he added.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with intense airstrikes far from the front about weekly since October. Kyiv says the attacks serve no military purpose and aim to harm civilians, a war crime. Moscow says the strikes are intended to reduce Ukraine’s ability to fight.

The latest strikes focused on “facilities that operate Ukraine’s defence industrial complex and transport system,” it said. “The goals of the massive attack have been reached. All the assigned targets have been neutralized.”

After Ukraine recaptured land in the second half of 2022, front lines have been largely frozen for more than two months, with Russia trying to gain ground in the east and protect a corridor of land it has seized in southern Ukraine.