Ukraine: separatists call on Moscow to deliver modern weapons

The main representative of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine demanded on Thursday January 27 that Moscow provide weapons to deal with the forces of Kiev, in the midst of the Russian-Western crisis which threatens to aggravate this conflict.

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"

," said Denis Pushilin, head of the rebel stronghold of Donestk, referring to Turkish-made drones delivered to Ukrainian forces last year despite strong protests from Russia.

He reported, quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency, of "

" in the armament of the separatists, while several Western countries including the United Kingdom and the United States have delivered arms and ammunition in recent days. in Kyiv.

“

,” he had already indicated on Wednesday evening on Russian television.

Russia's ruling party, United Russia, on Wednesday called on the Kremlin to deliver arms to separatists, who control swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine and have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014.

Kiev and its Western allies have long accused Moscow of supporting pro-Russian separatists militarily and financially, but the Kremlin has always denied this.

The statements of the party in power therefore mark a change in the official position displayed so far.

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Separatists and Russian authorities currently accuse Kiev of planning an offensive in the east, while Ukraine and Westerners fear an imminent invasion of the country by Russia, which has massed tens of thousands of troops at the borders.

Both sides deny wanting to start a conflict.

If the separatists had managed to put the Ukrainian army in difficulty in the first years of the war, the latter is now better equipped and better prepared.

Ukraine's use of Turkish-made combat drones, which proved effective in the Nagorno Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020, is of particular concern to pro-Russian forces, as are the devices of American Javelin anti-tank missiles.