Breaking news and news from Russia's war in Ukraine from January 21: Germany does not define the shipment of Leopard tanks to Ukraine

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11 minutes ago

Germany's defense minister has ordered an inventory review of Leopard 2 tanks

By Stephanie Halasz

Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he is ordering an inventory of Leopard 2 tanks as his country faces mounting criticism for failing to make a decision on sending combat vehicles to Kyiv.

Speaking at Ramstein airbase on Friday, Pistorius, just one day in office, said he had directed the Defense Ministry to "carry out an audit of Leopard tanks of various types, both within our ranks and in the industry." , and we will especially look at the question of the compatibility of the systems also with those of our partners, the availability and the number of units”.

“All this is not a precedent, it is simply a preparation for a day that may come, in which case we could act immediately and provide support in a very short time, this decision between the Federal Republic of Germany … and the transatlantic partners and NATO partners as a whole, it is taken this way,” he said.

"We are prepared; we are preparing ourselves," he insisted.

12 mins ago

Ukraine insists that to defend itself against Russia it needs better weapons.

A military expert analyzes it

Analysis: Germany and its allies discuss sending tanks to Ukraine 5:28

Ukraine insists that they need the West to help them with arms shipments to defend against Russian troops that invaded their territory last February.

On Friday, Germany and its allies failed to reach an agreement on sending modern battle tanks to reinforce Ukraine against possible Russian attacks in the spring.

In this video, the expert Luis Alberto Villamarín analyzes the current situation of the war and how Ukraine could benefit from greater military aid.

22 mins ago

Kyiv residents disappointed as Germany delays sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine

A Polish Leopard 2 stands in a wooded area during an international military exercise on January 27, 2022 at the Hohenfels military training area in Hohenfels, Germany.

(Armin Weigel/image-alliance/dpa/AP)

Kyiv residents reacted with dismay at Germany's reluctance to commit to sending its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine ahead of a possible Russian spring offensive.

They were speaking after a high-level meeting Friday of Kyiv's military backers at the Ramstein airbase in Germany ended in deadlock over tank supplies to Ukraine.

People in the Ukrainian capital told CNN how they felt about Western support for the war against Russia.

“Well, thank you very much for the self-propelled artillery units and howitzers.

It's a good deterrent and we really need it," said a Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunner known as "Sargent."

“On the other hand, they clearly don't want to provide us with offensive weapons like tanks.

They expect us to liberate our territories, but they are afraid that we will go further and enter the territory of the Russian Federation."

Nikita Matiushenko, an 18-year-old college student, told CNN he thought Ukraine's allies were playing "political games."

CNN has reported a clash between the US and Germany, with the latter saying it would only allow its Leopard 2 tanks to be sent to Ukraine if the US supplies Kyiv with its M1 Abrams tank.

The US and German defense ministers later denied any "link".

“Now the West is doing much more.

At the beginning of the war, it was not enough at all.

They did not want to give us some weapons or they gave very little.

But now it is much better.

Although, in my opinion, too slow.

I am convinced that they could do it faster, but the bureaucracy gets in the way,” Matiushenko said, adding that his father recently returned from fighting in Bakhmut with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

“I understand well enough how much we need long-range and offensive weapons,” he said.

Beautician Natalia Sihachuk, 50, said she feared the war would not end soon.

“In my opinion, we are not getting help fast enough.

They give us what they want and can give us.

So it won't be timely,” she said, acknowledging that Ukraine won't always get exactly what she wants.

She added that Ukraine should "say 'thank you'. If it weren't for the help, we would have had even more problems from the start."

“Now we are working not only for our own defense, but also to protect the interests of other countries.

That is why Western countries should be more interested in giving us more help," public official Artur Myroniuk, 27, told CNN.

Myroniuk said Ukraine's allies must quickly provide better air defense systems.

He pointed to the January 14 missile attack on a residential building in Dnipro that killed 45 people and injured dozens more.

“We all saw what happened in Dnipro recently.

Having seen children die in Ukraine, we need help with air defense,” Myroniuk said.

24 mins ago

Ukrainian General Staff details heavy Russian fire in Zaporizhia region

By Andrew Carey, Uliana Pavlova

There are new indications that Russian forces are escalating hostilities in and around the Zaporizhia region of south-eastern Ukraine.

The General Staff of Ukraine, in its latest update on the activities on the battlefield, reported missile attacks on the city of Hulyaipole, as well as missile attacks on Nikopol, which is located in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine.

Oleksander Staurk, the regional head of Zaporizhzhia, said Russian artillery fire was underway on Saturday morning, with 21 settlements in his region coming under recent attacks.

He said a woman had been killed in Hulyaipole and a theater had caught fire, one of dozens of buildings destroyed.

A Russian-appointed official in the occupied part of the Zaporizhia region claimed Russian troops had broken through Ukrainian defenses and captured four villages, a claim CNN was unable to verify.

Ukrainian officials have not announced such a loss of territory, although the General Staff update confirmed heavy attacks, detailing tank, mortar and artillery fire at a dozen frontline locations, including between Orikhiv and Kamyanske.

The front lines in the war, including those southeast of the city of Zaporizhia, have not moved significantly for weeks.

But there has been growing anticipation of a possible major Russian move in recent weeks since the head of Ukraine's armed forces said in a rare interview last month that Russian troops were "100 percent ready" for an offensive.

General Valery Zaluzhny told The Economist magazine that he expected the push to happen, "in February, at best in March and at worst at the end of January."

37 minutes ago

US to designate Russia's Wagner mercenary group a "transnational criminal organization"

The US Treasury Department will designate the Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group a "transnational criminal organization" and impose additional sanctions next week against the collective and its support network around the world, the White House said on Friday.

"These actions recognize the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through his continuing pattern of serious criminal activity," National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters Friday, before the Department's announcement. of the Treasury.

Along with the new sanctions, the US released recently declassified photos of Russian railcars traveling from Russia to North Korea and back in November, in what the US believes was the initial delivery of infantry rockets and missiles. for use by the mercenary organization Wagner Group in Ukraine.

Kirby said that while the US does not believe the equipment has changed the battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, the US believes deliveries of such weapons systems from North Korea to Russia will continue.

Russia has also received equipment, including drones, from Iran as its military supplies have dwindled over the course of the war.

"[North Korea's] arms transfers are in direct violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution," Kirby said, adding that the United States has shared its intelligence with the DPRK sanctions committee's panel of experts from Security Council.

A senior Western intelligence official extended that assessment on Friday, telling reporters that the West is "concerned that North Korea may plan to expand and deliver more military equipment or maintain those deliveries."

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52 mins ago

Germany does not give in on sending tanks to Ukraine.

Why is the Leopard 2 tank so important?

By Rob Picheta

Polish servicemen drive a Leopard tank during a live-fire demonstration as part of the Bear 22 military exercises at the Nowa Deba training range on September 21, in Nowa Deba, Poland.

(Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Germany has failed to reach an agreement with its main Western allies on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, despite mounting pressure from NATO and Kyiv to increase its military aid ahead of a possible Russian spring offensive.

“Not all of us can say today when a decision will be made and what that decision will be on the Leopard tanks,” newly appointed Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of a high-level defense meeting at the Ramstein airbase in Germany.

The stance will disappoint Ukraine's military, at least for now, and follows days of negotiations between the US, other Western partners and Berlin that ended in encouraging news on Friday.

Leopard 2 tanks are seen as a vital modern military vehicle that would bolster Kyiv's forces as the war with Russia nears the one-year mark.

But Germany has responded to claims that it is slow to provide military support to Ukraine, calling on the United States to send its own tanks across the Atlantic and into Ukraine.

Here's what you need to know about the Leopard 2 tanks, the geopolitical disputes surrounding them, and why they are so important to the war in Ukraine.

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war in ukraine