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Germany has supplied Ukraine with another batch of military aid, which includes ammunition for Leopard 2 tanks, ten infantry fighting vehicles and a Skynex air defence system. You can view the full list of the aid included in Berlin’s military package here.
Military aid worth about €28bn (£23.9bn) has so far been made available by Germany (or has been earmarked) to support Ukraine over the next few years, according to the German government.
In addition, more than 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers received military training in Germany, it said.
Germany, which earlier this month promised to deliver a third Patriot battery to Kyiv, has been leading efforts to bolster Ukraine’s air defences as Moscow makes gains on the battlefield with Kyiv waiting for crucial US supplies to be delivered.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Friday that Nato allies had Patriot systems available to provide to Ukraine, but he declined to go into details, citing classified information. “We are working with those allies to ensure that they make the right decisions to provide new Patriot batteries,” he said.
Germany, Poland, Sweden, Spain and Greece are among the EU countries that possess the Patriot systems. But some EU nations appear hesitant to give up their supplies.
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Russian strike kills at least two people in Kharkiv - officials
A Russian strike killed at least two people and injured six more in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, according to local officials.
The Russian forces used guided bombs to carry out the attack on the city, according to preliminary information, governor Oleh Synehubov wrote on Telegram.
The attack damaged a residential building in one of the city districts, the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said. The emergency services are continuing to work at the site.
Security officials believe the Kremlin’s original war aims are unchanged, more than two years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion. They include seizing the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa and occupying Ukraine’s southern Black Sea coast.
They assess that Russia will not be able to storm Kharkiv, a city of more than 1 million people close to the Russian border but will continue to bomb and to threaten it.
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Odesa’s ‘Harry Potter castle’ hit in Russian missile attack that killed five
Good morning and welcome to our Ukraine blog.
A Russian missile attack on an educational institution in a popular seafront park in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, known locally as ‘Harry Potter castle’, on Monday killed at least five people and injured 32, local officials said. The previous death toll was four.
The building is reportedly the residence of prominent former MP Serhiy Kivalov, who was among those said to have been injured in the strike.
Regional governor Oleh Kiper said that in addition to those killed in the attack, one man died after suffering a stroke attributed to the strike.
Kiper said eight of the injured were in serious condition, including a four-year-old child. Among the injured were another child and a pregnant woman.
“Our doctors are trying to do their best,” he added.
Here are some of the other main developments in the war:
Nato countries have not delivered what they promised to Ukraine in time, which has benefited Russia on the frontline, Jens Stoltenberg has said. “Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine, the Nato secretary general said in Kyiv while meeting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Ukrainian officials say Russia is assembling forces for a major summer offensive, even if its troops are making only incremental gains at the moment. “The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the frontline,” Stoltenberg added. “Lack of air defence has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces.” Zelenskiy said new western supplies have started arriving, but slowly. “This process must be speeded up,” he said.
The head of the southern Kherson region said Russian shelling killed one person in the last 24 hours.
Debris showed that an North Korean Hwasong-11 ballistic missile hit Kharkiv on 2 January, UN sanctions monitors have told a security council committee in a report seen by Reuters. The missile was most likely illegally supplied to Russia, they conclude. North Korea is accused of developing such weapons and supplying them to Russia despite being under UN sanctions for its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes since 2006. Ukraine’s allies have accused North Korea of transferring weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine in violation of an arms embargo. The US has accused Russia of launching North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles against Ukraine on at least nine occasions.
Away from the frontline, Polish farmers have lifted blockades at border crossings with Ukraine, officials said on Monday, ending a two-month protest over farm imports and alleged unfair competition.
Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, made an unannounced visit to Ukraine – the first British royal to travel to the country since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
Buckingham Palace said on Monday that Sophie, wife of Prince Edward, met Zelenskiy and first lady Olena Zelenska in Kyiv and delivered a message on behalf of King Charles III. It did not disclose the timing or details of the visit. The palace said Sophie made the trip “to demonstrate solidarity with the women, men and children impacted by the war and in a continuation of her work to champion survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.”
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