With the invader and invaded leaders entertained during visits to their troops, Russian forces have stepped up the pressure around Bakhmut even more, while Kiev continues to desperately hope for arms and ammunition to arrive. On the latter, leaked classified US documents show apparently successful attempts to prevent Egypt from supplying Moscow and producing missiles for Kiev.
A review by Economist the announced Ukrainian counter-offensive, of which only five soldiers know the plans in full, leaves more questions than certainties. According to the British publication, the Ukrainian armed forces will group into at least 12 brigades – although they could go up to 18 – and the dozens of brigades will have more than 200 tanks, 800 armored vehicles and 150 artillery pieces at their disposal, numbers they may be insufficient to to turn the tide, not least because Russian troops – with the exception of Bakhmut and Avdiivka – are on the defensive behind minefields and obstacles.
In addition to strategic and tactical issues, there is a shortage of ammunition. Kiev’s allies were caught with emptied magazines and initiatives to try to convince countries like South Korea or Israel to supply Ukraine with ammunition, its public, while supplies from North Korea were reported – and denied – on the Russian side. in addition to Iranian-made drones. The information leak attributed to young American soldier Jack Teixeira provides new details about attempts by one side and the other to increase firepower.
In this case, Egypt, ruled with an iron fist by Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, is at the center of the story. O The Washington Post had already published the Egyptian leader’s plans, dated February, to sell Russia 40,000 Sakr-45 missiles that would serve as Russian multi-launch rocket launchers. Sisi gave instructions at the time to keep the deal a secret to “avoid trouble with the West”.
Egypt is trying to establish good relations with both the West – the US provides more than a billion dollars in military aid annually – and with Russia, from where it imports grain, military equipment and increasingly fuel oil (cheap and polluting fuel that makes it possible to to generate cheaper electricity and to export more gas), in addition to the ongoing construction of a nuclear power plant. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cairo voted with most countries at the United Nations to end the Russian occupation, but remained neutral. Now it is known that this position is not so transparent.
When U.S. intelligence agencies reported the information gathered in mid-February — including Military Production Minister Salah al-Din’s statement to the president that the Russians were ready to “buy anything” — Washington sent two officials to Cairo at the end of February and then, in early March, it was Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s turn.
It was already known that he had requested artillery ammunition for Ukraine, but the result of the initiative was unknown. Now, according to the documents analyzed by the The Washington Post, US pressure prevailed, not only preventing the production and sale of missiles to Russia, but also securing approval for the sale of 152mm and 155mm ammunition, the latter being the standard caliber of NATO artillery. However, the Sisi regime plans to purchase F-35 fighter jets and the Patriot air defense system in return.
Zelensky reacts to Putin’s visit to the ‘crime scene’
A smiling Zelensky versus an icy Putin is one of the possible interpretations of both leaders’ visits to their respective troops. On Monday, the Russian visited the occupied territories for the second time, after visiting Crimea and Mariupol in March.
This time he arrived in the Kherson region by helicopter, with the official video showing the entrance sign to Henichesk, the coastal town that the occupying forces had designated as the region’s capital after being driven from the city of Kherson, and out of reach of Ukrainian. artillery. Then he will have gone to Lugansk, although the footage only proves that he met the commander of the region Alexander Lapin. Kiev said that after the visit was announced, the center of Kherson was bombed, killing one person and injuring nine others.
The answer to the “”special trip” of the perpetrator of the mass murders,” according to presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak, “to enjoy one last time the crimes of his lackeys,” was a journey from Zelensky to Avdiivka, near the city Donetsk, occupied by Moscow.
Lavrov with Guterres
The Russian ambassador to the United Nations has announced that the head of diplomacy Sergei Lavrov has already been granted a visa to travel to New York. According to Vasily Nebenzya, the foreign minister will not only chair two Security Council meetings, but also meet with the UN Secretary-General. With António Guterres, in particular, the extension of the Black Sea Grains Agreement will be discussed. Nebenzya said the prospects for extending the agreement “are not good” as his country, despite being theoretically able to export food and fertilizer, has struggled to charter ships.
Source: DN
