Special envoy to Kyiv
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In the meantime, the entourage of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov is distributing the latest booklet printed by his services: "The thirty wars against the cursed neighbor
"
.
While a delegation led by the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, listens to Ukrainian grievances and expectations to continue the war against the Russian invasion, the press is invited to be patient.
On the cover of the booklet written in English, a letter Z in red and in capitals has been highlighted, in reference to the Z displayed at the start of the invasion of February 24 by the Russian tanks... The story begins with the campaigns of Svyatoslav the Brave, in 964, who led the prince of Kiev to the Moska River, where,
“in the swamps”,
lived
“the ancestors of modern Russians”.
It breaks off with the unfinished story of the
“great war of liberation”
that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea by Vladimir Putin.
“We hope that Ukraine will finally win and put an end to a centuries-old confrontation,”
reads the last line of the booklet.
In kyiv, no one is inclined to make concessions.
“Is their attachment to Crimea and Donbass worth relentless bombardment of their cities?
Today, the answer of the population is yes”,
assured Sébastien Lecornu before the meeting.
After the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, the Minister of the Armed Forces made the trip to kyiv on Wednesday.
He is also the 23rd Western Minister of Defense to make the trip.
He was received behind closed doors by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
After more than ten months of war, the Minister came to prepare the military support for 2023.
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On Wednesday, in kyiv, the air alert triggered after the report of planes in the Belarusian sky had not changed the ballet of cars and a few pedestrians.
In front of the monument to soldiers who have died since 2014, carcasses of Russian armored vehicles, the remains of an Iskander missile and the remains of civilian vehicles bear witness to the fighting and the bereavement.
“Are you holding on?”
Asks Sébastien Lecornu to the Deputy Minister of Defence, Oleksander Polishchuk, who accompanies him, before laying a wreath of flowers.
“New Materials”
Beyond the symbol - France's support for Ukraine - the Minister of the Armed Forces came to follow up on deliveries of military equipment.
"There are technical subjects to be discussed and I wanted to be present"
, he says, "
to understand their needs"
.
During the morning, he visited a military training center for anti-aircraft defenses.
With ammunition stocks still at a critical level, anti-aircraft defense is at the top of Ukraine's priority list.
But it is complex to set up.
“Surface-to-air defense is a radar, a firing device and a command post.
Everyone can bring a piece”
, explains Sébastien Lecornu, assuring that by delivering the Mistrals in June, France was among the first to react.
Ukraine has expressed interest in the GM200 detection radar, of which Thales has a copy in stock.
To fight against drones, the Ukrainian army is also studying the acquisition of acoustic detection radars developed in France.
The two promised Crotale systems have already arrived on the battlefield.
But Ukraine also needs even more efficient defenses such as the Mamba, which protect nuclear bases in France, could offer.
On Tuesday, in an interview with Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of the Italian Council Giorgia Meloni confirmed that Italy, co-builder of the Mamba, was also considering providing surface-to-air capabilities.
By putting together pieces of the puzzle, the Europeans could complete a device reinforced by the delivery of American Patriots.
But these complex systems require a long training.
Without giving details, Oleksiy Reznikov mentioned the delivery of
“new equipment”
for which
“training has already begun”.
The concern of the Ukrainian army
On the ground, the Caesar artillery cannons manufactured by Nexter are another asset.
One of them, carried on a floating barge, had made it possible to hit the Russian positions on Serpents' Island, recalled the Ukrainian minister, hoping
"to receive more".
The French army does not seem ready to take new ones from its stocks, but the minister is pushing manufacturers to accelerate their production rate to supply others in 2023. In the meantime, the Ukrainian army is worried about the rate of availability of barrels that wear out after hellish rates of fire.
“Some damage is getting serious on the Caesars,”
admits Sébastien Lecornu.
One cannon, out of the eighteen delivered, is completely out of order.
Others are immobilized for maintenance.
The "truck" part suffered.
Turrets sometimes need to be replaced.
The cannon tubes will also soon have to be repaired.
The Ukrainian army must manage to ensure local maintenance so as not to have to transit the Caesars to Poland, which takes time and puts them at risk, it is argued on the French side.
"We have three levels of maintenance",
explains the Ukrainian minister: basic repairs on the battlefield, those which can be provided by Ukrainian companies,
"of medium complexity",
and those which require a transfer of the material abroad.
Oleksiy Reznikov wanted more cooperation with French companies to facilitate repairs in Ukraine.
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The war lasts, so we must make the weapons last.
"That's what weakens the Russians, they don't have the ability to maintain their equipment,"
says Sébastien Lecornu.
“Maintenance and training”
are discriminating for the continuation of the war, he assures.
It is also for this reason that Paris will not deliver, a priori, Leclerc tanks, assures the minister: their maintenance is too complex for an army which would need them immediately.
Behind closed doors, the French also warned their interlocutors.
The Ukrainian administration is considered too heavy and too slow while France has set up a support fund endowed with 200 million euros, thanks to the amendment of the deputy Benjamin Haddad, present Wednesday in the delegation.
It will allow Ukraine to place orders directly with manufacturers.
Three purchasing centers are responsible for placing orders, we lament in France.
For several months, Paris has been inviting its interlocutors to order spare parts.
Without wasting time.
