NATO: Ukraine Allies Send a Strong Message with 1,550 Combat Vehicles and 230 Tanks

52

NATO and its partner countries have sent Ukraine 98% of the combat vehicles they promised during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This will give Ukraine more power if they want to take action against Russia.

Ukraine’s allies have sent 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks, and other equipment, like ammo. Along with this, NATO has trained and put together nine new brigades with more than 30 thousand soldiers. Other countries like Sweden and Australia have given Ukraine some armored vehicles too.

Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine will be able to get back territories they had lost after Russian invaded last year. This statement came right after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chatted with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, which was their first call since the whole invasion happened.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Western officials were happy when China’s President Xi made a move to possibly bring peace between Ukraine and Russia. However, it didn’t get them any closer to making peace as there remain huge differences in terms for an agreement between the two countries. Furthermore, China hasn’t spoken out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and even has an alliance with them opposing the US’s international influence. Last month, President Xi visited Moscow in support of this alliance.

Stoltenberg said that all 31 NATO allies are helping Ukraine’s army, and regaining the land which Russia forces took away will give Ukraine more power when talking about peace.

Ukraine officials think China’s actions to support them are great. The Prime Minister said the phone call between Xi and Zelenskyy went very well.

After Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal visited Pope Francis at the Vatican, he declared it was a great start to their relationship. However, when asked if this visit could help stop the fighting in Ukraine, Russia’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov replied that they would happily accept any initiatives that lead to peace in Ukraine and achieving their goals.

Peskov said it was up to China and Ukraine alone whether they chose to have a conversation or not. Meanwhile, although there is not much movement taking place on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russian forces continue to fire bombs at Ukrainian houses and other places where civilians are living.

At least seven people were killed and 33 injured in Ukraine between Wednesday and Thursday, according to reports from the presidential office. One person died and 23 people, including a child, were hurt when four missiles hit the city of Mykolaiv. Many buildings got damaged including 22 big ones, 12 homes, and other houses.

Earlier, Kalibr missiles were launched from a ship or submarine located in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s Operational Command South reported this important news.

Russian President Vladimir Putin just passed a law that allows Russia to kick out anyone living in the places he annexed from Ukraine if they don’t have Russian citizenship. This will start from July next year and these places are ones Russia thinks should be part of Russia. Putin already took control of Crimea in 2014, as well as 4 Ukraine regions last September. A lot of countries believe this is wrong and are not happy about it.

President Putin wants his government to create new public studies and museums that show his side of the story when it comes to the military operation in Ukraine. Also, starting this September, there will be textbooks that share his point of view about the military operations.

The leader of a group in Russia that fights battles, called the Wagner Group, said people who work for Russia’s government aren’t giving them enough ammunition. According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, his soldiers have only gotten a little bit of ammunition and it’s not enough. He says this is because someone in the Russian government apparently did something bad or “treason”. The person doing this is like a bad guy or ‘thug’, according to Prigozhin.

___ Someone reported from Brussels. People from Tallinn, Estonia and Rome also provided extra reports. ___ If you want to stay in the know about the war between Russia and Ukraine, check out https://bigbignews.net/russia-ukraine for more information.