RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Pentagon allows Ukraine to fire long-range missiles at will
It is up to the government in Kiev to decide how to use the new rockets for the US-supplied HIMARS launchers, the Pentagon said on Friday, confirming that the latest batch of munitions the American taxpayers are funding will include Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB).
The Boeing-manufactured munitions consist of a rocket motor mated with an airplane bomb, with an estimated range of up to 150 kilometers. While Friday’s announcement listed “additional ammunition” for the HIMARS and “precision-guided rockets,” Brigadier-General Patrick Ryder told reporters that this indeed included the GLSDB, confirming the information leaked to Reuters earlier this week.
Ryder also confirmed that the US won’t stand in the way of Ukrainians using the missiles to strike deep inside Russia.
“When it comes to Ukrainian plans on operations, clearly that is their decision. They are in the lead for those,” he said on Friday. “So, I'm not going to talk about or speculate about potential future operations, but again, all along, we've been working with them to provide them with capabilities that will enable them to be effective on the battlefield.”
The GLDSB are produced by Boeing in cooperation with Swedish Saab AB, and combine the GBU-39 small-diameter bomb with the M26 rocket motor. It was unclear how many of the munitions the Pentagon intended to send, or whether they would come from the US military stockpile or need to be freshly produced.
Reuters claimed to have seen a Boeing document saying the first deliveries could be “as early as spring 2023.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg cited unnamed officials who said the timeline could be as long as nine months, depending on when the US Air Force issues the contract. Bloomberg also reported the GLSDB order would account for $200 million of the $1.75 billion in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding, referring to contracts for weapons and ammunition not coming out of the Pentagon stockpile.
Whenever the missiles actually arrive, Russia has already hinted at how it will respond. On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin tasked the military with “eliminating any possibility” of Ukrainian artillery strikes on Russian territory. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview on Thursday that Moscow will “push back” the Ukrainian troops to a range at which they will not be a threat.
“The longer range the weapons supplied to the Kiev regime have, the further the troops will need to be moved,” Lavrov said.
Ukraine has used the US-supplied HIMARS launchers against both military targets and civilians in Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye. Kiev has repeatedly asked for the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets, which have a range of some 300 kilometers.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Washington that providing heavy weapons to Ukraine risks crossing Russia’s “red lines” and involving the US and NATO in the conflict directly. The US and its allies insist they are not parties to the hostilities, but continue to arm Kiev. By the Pentagon’s own admission, the US has committed $32 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
** Russian forces strike two Ukrainian army brigades in Zaporozhye area
Russian forces struck two Ukrainian army brigades in the Zaporozhye area over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.
"In the Zaporozhye area, artillery and units of the battlegroup East inflicted damage on the Ukrainian army’s 108th and 110th territorial defense brigades near the communities of Levadnoye, Marfopol and Lugovskoye in the Zaporozhye Region," the spokesman said.
The enemy’s losses in that area in the past 24 hours totaled "over 20 Ukrainian personnel, a US-made M777 artillery system, two D-20 howitzers and a D-30 howitzer," the general specified.
Russian forces destroyed roughly 40 Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk area over the past, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk area, operational-tactical aircraft and artillery of the western battlegroup delivered strikes against manpower and equipment of units of the Ukrainian army’s 103rd territorial defense brigade and 92nd mechanized brigade," the spokesman said.
Russian forces eliminated "as many as 40 Ukrainian servicemen, an armored combat vehicle and a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar," the general specified.
Russian forces also wiped out a Ukrainian ammunition depot near the community of Blagodatovka in the Kharkov Region, Konashenkov reported.
Russian forces and artillery inflicted damage on Ukrainian army units in the Krasny Liman area, eliminating over 70 enemy troops in the past day, he said.
"In the Krasny Liman area, damage was inflicted on units of the Ukrainian army’s 66th mechanized, 25th airborne and 80th air assault brigades as a result of artillery fire and offensive operations by the battlegroup Center," the spokesman said.
Russian forces eliminated "over 70 Ukrainian servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, an infantry fighting vehicle, a D-20 howitzer and a US-made M777 artillery system," the general specified.
Russian forces also destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot near Krasny Liman in the Donetsk People’s Republic, he said.
Russian forces gained more advantageous positions in their offensive in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Donetsk area, units of the southern battlegroup took more advantageous frontiers and positions in their offensive operations. In the past 24 hours in that area, they eliminated as many as 40 Ukrainian servicemen, a Msta-B howitzer, and also a US-made AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the area of the settlement of Antonovka in the Kherson Region, a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system was destroyed," the spokesman said.
In the Kherson area in the past 24 hours, Russian forces also destroyed a Ukrainian Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery guns in the counter-battery warfare. In the areas of the settlements of Kazatskoye, Nikolayevka and Mikhailovka in the Kherson Region, they wiped out three Ukrainian ammunition depots, the general specified.
Russian combat aircraft shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet in the Kherson Region over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 plane near the community of Chervonoarmeiskoye in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missile launcher in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Operational-tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 86 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 103 areas. In the area of the settlement of Krasnoarmeisk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Tochka-U tactical missile launcher and a Norwegian-made NASAMS surface-to-air missile system were destroyed," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian army fuel depot in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the area of the settlement of Krasnoarmeisk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a depot storing fuel for Ukrainian military equipment was obliterated. In addition, in the areas of the settlements of Kurakhovka and Mikhailovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, two Ukrainian ammunition depots were destroyed," the spokesman said.
Russian air defense forces shot down seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities shot down seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Kotlyarovka in the Kharkov Region, Nikolskoye and Kirillovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Kuzemovka and Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic, and also Golaya Pristan in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 382 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 206 helicopters, 3,008 unmanned aerial vehicles, 403 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,723 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,004 multiple rocket launchers, 3,988 field artillery guns and mortars and 8,255 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Zelenskiy vows to defend 'fortress' Bakhmut, hosts EU leaders in Kyiv
Ukrainians will fight "for as long as we can" to hold the eastern city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Friday, as he hosted European Union leaders to discuss further sanctions on Russia and Kyiv's prospects for joining the EU.
Meanwhile, the United States said it would send more than $2.175 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine, including a new rocket that will double Kyiv's strike range to reach most Ukrainian territory now held by the Russians.
The head of the EU's executive Commission and the chairman of the 27 EU national leaders were in Kyiv to demonstrate support for Ukraine as the first anniversary of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of its neighbour approaches.
As they and Zelenskiy's government discussed a range of issues, air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv and across the country - a regular occurrence during months of Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure far from the battlefields in the east and south - but there were no reports of new air strikes.
Zelenskiy, flanked by the EU leaders at a news conference, said European sanctions should aim to ensure Russia cannot rebuild its military capability. And he had a defiant message on Bakhmut, the focal point of Ukrainian resistance to Russia's invasion and of Moscow's drive to regain battlefield momentum.
"Nobody will give away Bakhmut. We will fight for as long as we can. We consider Bakhmut our fortress," he said.
Moscow says Russian forces are encircling the city that had a pre-war population of around 75,000 from several directions and battling to take control of a road which is also an important supply route for Ukrainian forces.
"If weapon (supplies) are accelerated, specifically long- range weapons, not only will we not abandon Bakhmut but we will also begin to remove the occupiers from the Donbas (region of eastern Ukraine), occupied since 2014," Zelenskiy said.
The U.S. military aid announced on Friday included rockets known as Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB), whose 151 km (94 mile) range would put all of Russia's supply lines in eastern Ukraine within reach, as well as part of the Crimea peninsula, also seized by Moscow in 2014.
NO EU FAST TRACK
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said a 10th sanctions package would hit "trade and technology that supports Russia's war machine".
The package, which the EU is preparing for the anniversary of the invasion, is set to fall short of some of Ukraine's demands, and Kyiv's ambition to join the EU may take longer than it would like.
Ukraine applied to join the EU days after Russia invaded last year. The EU has embraced the application, but rebuffed Ukraine's calls for a fast track to membership while the country is at war.
EU officials have listed multiple membership requirements, from political and economic stability to adopting various EU laws. The process is likely to take years.
The EU has demanded Kyiv tackle what is perceived as endemic state graft. Zelenskiy has announced dismissals and investigations of an array of officials in the past two weeks.
Asked at the news conference with Zelenskiy about Kyiv's membership bid, the Commission's von der Leyen said: "There are no rigid timelines, but there are goals that you have to reach."
EU countries agreed on Friday on a Commission proposal to set price caps on Russian oil products from Sunday to limit Moscow's ability to fund the war. They include a $100 cap on premium oil products such as diesel and a $45 limit per barrel on discounted products such as fuel oil, diplomats said.
A similar price cap on crude oil took effect in December.
The Kremlin said the plan would unbalance global energy markets but Moscow was acting to mitigate its impact. Russia will almost treble its daily sales of foreign currency to 8.9 billion roubles ($130 million) a day over the next month to compensate for lower oil and gas revenue.
Russia's monthly budget revenues from oil and gas fell in January to their lowest level since August 2020 under the impact of Western sanctions, Finance Ministry data showed.
TANKS
The German government said it had approved the delivery of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from its stocks. The tanks could be delivered sooner than advanced Leopard 2s that Germany and other countries pledged last week.
Ukraine's defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said the new tanks being supplied by NATO nations would serve as an "iron fist" in a counteroffensive to smash through Russian lines.
Russia has been intensifying pressure on Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv says Moscow is sending thousands of soldiers and mercenaries to their deaths for small gains.
"They bring in men from their draft and try systematically to find places to break through," Serhiy Cherevatiy, a spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces eastern front, told Ukrainian radio NV.
Moscow says a major objective in Ukraine is securing the rest of Donetsk province, one of four it claimed to have unilaterally annexed last year. Its forces have claimed incremental gains over the past week around Bakhmut.
A Belarusian volunteer fighting for Ukraine inside the city said there was no sign yet Ukrainian forces were planning to pull out. "For the moment it's the opposite, the positions are being reinforced where the Russians are trying to cut us off... We're holding for now."
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.
RT/TASS/Reuters
