Ukraine, which is currently beset by a Russian offensive in the northeast and power cuts after strikes on its power plants, will benefit from Washington’s support until its security is “guaranteed”, promised Tuesday the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, during a surprise visit to kyiv.
“The United States has been with you since day one” and “we will remain with you until Ukraine’s security, sovereignty and ability to choose its own path are guaranteed,” Mr. . Blinken in a speech to students in the Ukrainian capital.
Arriving in the morning, he assured during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that American military aid was “on the way”.
“Some of it has already happened, more will happen” and “this will make a real difference on the battlefield,” said the American Secretary of State.
In the evening, the Ukrainian public electricity company Ukrenergo announced that it was “forced to carry out controlled emergency cuts in all regions”, including in the capital – where 10% of households had to be disconnected from the electricity supply. network —, following the bombardment of power stations and an increase in current consumption linked to a drop in temperatures.
Russian forces have carried out some of their most devastating strikes on energy infrastructure in Ukraine in recent months, destroying key facilities there.
“Too much time is passing”
President Zelensky, for his part, urged the West to speed up arms supplies which are sorely lacking in the face of the land offensive launched by Moscow on Friday in the North-East, after weeks of bombing.
“We need a noticeable acceleration in deliveries. Too much time currently passes between package announcements [d’aide] and the real appearance of weapons on the front line,” he lamented Tuesday evening, after his talks with Mr. Blinken.
The new Russian assault is taking place in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s second largest city, located near the border.
A strike there on Tuesday injured at least 20 people. A guided aerial bomb hit an apartment building, regional police chief Serguii Bolvinov told AFP.
The Russian army, for its part, assured Tuesday that it had penetrated “deep into the Ukrainian defenses” and claimed the capture of a new village in this area, near the town of Vovchansk.
Mr. Zelensky stressed the need to receive more air defense assets, demanding two batteries of Patriot surface-to-air missiles for the Kharkiv region.
Three weeks after the release of a $61 billion package, the United States released $1.4 billion in military aid to draw on its stocks, mainly Patriot and NASAMS anti-aircraft systems which are sorely lacking in the country. Ukraine, as well as ammunition for artillery.
But the flow must intensify considerably to make up for the lost months, especially since Russia has the initiative on the ground, has reserves of men and weapons and has established a war economy.
Critical situation “
In Vovchansk, the largest locality targeted by the ongoing Russian attack, the situation is “critical”, the head of the local military administration, Tamaz Gambarashvili, admitted on Tuesday, referring to “constant bombings” and fighting “in the surroundings of the city.
According to the Ukrainian army general staff, the Russians have achieved “tactical successes” and around thirty villages are under enemy fire. Some 7,000 people were evacuated.
This operation raises fears of a Russian breakthrough in the face of Ukrainian troops lacking resources and who were already under heavy pressure on the eastern and southern fronts.
The head of Ukrainian national security, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, told AFP that “more than 30,000” Russian soldiers were attacking in this area but that no “threat” currently weighed on Kharkiv, located around thirty kilometers from the fighting.
For his part, the new Russian Defense Minister, Andrei Beloussov, declared on Tuesday that he wanted to achieve victory in Ukraine with “minimal human losses”.
Many military experts observe that the Russian army has suffered heavy losses since the start of the war in February 2022, speaking of tens of thousands of deaths in its ranks.