War in Ukraine, day 366 | Kyiv wants “victory this year”, prepares a counter-offensive

(Kyiv) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he was aiming for a “victory” this year against Russia, as the first Western tanks were delivered to Ukraine on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.

Mr. Zelensky said that a victory against Moscow was possible this year, if his Western partners kept their word on their military aid.

“If the partners keep their word and meet the deadlines, an inevitable victory awaits us […] I really want that this year,” he said at a press conference on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.

In Moscow, the number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also swore “victory”, saying that Russia was ready to go to “Poland’s borders”.

Visiting Kyiv, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for his part announced the arrival in Ukraine of the first four Leopard 2 battle tanks, and that other tanks would arrive “in a few days”. He also said Poland was “ready” to train Ukrainian pilots on American F16s, planes that Ukraine has been asking for without success for months.

The Ukrainian president, who has become the face of the Ukrainian resistance worldwide, has set the goal of defeating the Russian giant “this year”.

Sitting at a desk in dim light, wearing a dark sweater stamped with the Ukrainian coat of arms, a yellow trident, he vowed to punish “Russian murderers […] by an international court, by the judgment of God or by our soldiers”.

Kyiv is working “hard” on a counter-offensive, added its Defense Minister, Oleksiï Reznikov, promising to strike Russia in “the air, on land, at sea”.

According to him, the West sees Ukraine as its “shield” against Russia. Americans and Europeans are increasing arms deliveries, now sending tanks and longer-range ammunition to help Kyiv overcome its numerical deficit with more precise weapons than those of the Russians.

After announcing the arrival of the first four Leopard tanks in Ukraine, the Polish Prime Minister assured that the PT-91, a modernized model of the Soviet T-72, will arrive “in a few days”.

Dozens more are to be delivered in the coming weeks by other Western allies. Sweden will deliver “about” ten Leopard tanks to Kyiv, the Swedish government announced on Friday.

President Zelensky paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines and those who fell in battle, during a decoration ceremony organized in the morning on the forecourt of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv.

little brother at war

The blue and yellow national flag was hoisted there, before the Ukrainian anthem resounded: “Neither the glory nor the freedom of Ukraine are dead…”

Commemorations took place locally, notably in Boutcha, the scene of a massacre of civilians attributed to Russian troops.

Galyna Gamoulets, 64, is a resident of this suburb of Kyiv. Today, “my husband’s little brother is at war, in Bakhmout […] He says it’s very hard, ”she says, referring to this eastern city, the scene of a fierce battle since the summer.

In Kramatorsk, in the east, Mykhailo Sikirin, a 30-year-old national guard who died in combat was buried. “He died for the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine”, declares the priest at the foot of the tomb, “it is the greatest sacrifice for which any man aspires”.

Around the world, the tone was generally one of solidarity with Ukraine.

The UN General Assembly on Thursday demanded by an overwhelming majority an “immediate” withdrawal of Russian troops. But there were notable abstentions, starting with China, Russia’s strategic partner.

The leaders of NATO, France, Germany, the G7 and the EU have all professed their support for Ukraine, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promising that Vladimir Putin “will not achieve his goals imperialists”.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated Thursday evening in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. In the heart of Berlin, the carcass of a Russian tank was installed in front of the Russian Embassy, ​​the gun turned towards it.

proxy war

The West will also strengthen the sanctions imposed on Moscow. The White House announced Friday in particular to reduce Russian access to sensitive technologies such as semiconductors.

Poland, on the other hand, was blocking a new series of European sanctions, according to European diplomats. Prime Minister Morawiecki hammered home from Kyiv that on 10^e package prepared by the EU was “too soft, too weak”.

China called for Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, citing respect for Ukrainian territorial integrity and Russian security claims. An equation hitherto impossible.

Vladimir Putin unleashed in the early morning of February 24, 2022 the worst conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

A year later, entire cities have been destroyed, part of the country is occupied and the human toll is more than 150,000 dead and wounded on both sides according to Western estimates. Some eight million Ukrainians have been displaced.

After the initial shock, the Ukrainian army inflicted a series of setbacks on the Kremlin, pushing the invader back from Kyiv, from the north, from the northeast and into the south. Since the winter, the front has stabilized, but both sides are preparing new offensives.

In addition to the Crimea annexed in 2014, Russia claims four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine as its own.

Vladimir Putin, who is not scheduled to speak on Friday, has all week accused the West of waging a proxy war to wipe out Russia, and claimed that Ukraine is ruled by a genocidal neo-Nazi regime. He vowed to “methodically” continue his offensive.

Faced with the extent of the losses, Russia has mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists to the front since September and hopes to at least conquer the four partially occupied regions.

The fighting is concentrated in the east, around the fortress town of Bakhmout, where the Russian forces are struggling to gain ground. The paramilitary group Wagner claimed responsibility there on Friday for the capture of the village of Berkhivka.

Finally, Russian diplomacy accused Kyiv on Friday of wanting to attack neighboring Transdniestria militarily, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova, where Moscow has a contingent. The Moldovan government, led by pro-Westerns, has rejected these allegations.