UK to send heavy battle tanks to Ukraine - Al Jazeera English

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PM Rishi Sunak promises to nonstop 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine aft telephone telephone with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Published On 14 Jan 2023

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to supply dense tanks and artillery systems to Ukraine, drafting swift reproach from the Russian embassy successful London.

Sunak promised to nonstop the 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine pursuing a telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected Saturday, according to a connection from his office.

The determination makes the UK the archetypal Western state to proviso the dense tanks Kyiv has been calling for.

Sunak said the tanks were a motion of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our enactment to Ukraine”, according to a readout of a telephone telephone with Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian person expressed his appreciation for the UK’s subject enactment connected Twitter, saying “the decisions that volition not lone fortify america connected the battlefield, but besides nonstop the close awesome to different partners”.

Always beardown enactment of the UK is present impenetrable and acceptable for challenges. In a speech with the Prime Minister, @RishiSunak, I thanked for the decisions that volition not lone fortify america connected the battlefield, but besides nonstop the close awesome to different partners.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 14, 2023

Sunak’s bureau said the British premier curate believed that a “long and static warfare lone serves Russia’s interests”.

“UK defence and information officials judge a model has opened up wherever Russia is connected the backfoot owed to resupply issues and plummeting morale,” the connection said. “The Prime Minister is truthful encouraging allies to deploy their planned enactment for 2023 arsenic soon arsenic imaginable to person maximum impact.”

The squadron of Challenger 2 tanks, which are conflict tanks designed to onslaught different tanks, volition spell into Ukraine successful the coming weeks. About 30 AS90s, which are large, self-propelled guns operated by 5 gunners, are expected to follow, it said.

Russia responded to the UK’s pledge by informing that it would lone “intensify” the conflict.

“Bringing tanks to the struggle zone, acold from drafting the hostilities to a close, volition lone service to intensify combat operations, generating much casualties, including among the civilian population”, the Russian embassy successful London said.

Ukraine has been asking to beryllium supplied with heavier tanks for months, including the US Abrams and the German Leopard 2 tanks. However, immoderate Western leaders person been treading carefully.

Poland and the Czech Republic person provided Soviet-era T-72 tanks to the Ukrainian army.

While Poland has besides expressed readiness to springiness Leopard tanks, President Andrzej Duda underscored that the determination would lone beryllium imaginable arsenic a portion of a larger planetary conjugation of vessel assistance to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, France said it would nonstop AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine, designated “light tanks” successful France. The US and Germany announced the aforesaid week that they would nonstop Bradley warring vehicles and Marder armoured unit carriers, respectively, for the archetypal time.

The UK’s determination to supply the tanks came arsenic Russian forces fired missiles astatine Ukraine’s superior and different cities astir the state connected Saturday, hitting captious infrastructure.

At slightest 12 radical were killed and much than 64 wounded successful the southeastern metropolis of Dnipro, wherever a Russian rocket onslaught destroyed a conception of an flat building, determination politician Valentyn Reznichenko said.

Seven children were among the wounded, the youngest 3 years old, helium added, saying “the destiny of 26 radical is inactive unknown”.

Infrastructure facilities were besides deed successful the occidental Lviv portion and northeastern Kharkiv. Kyiv, the capital, was besides targeted.

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