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Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov gave Britain the thumbs up as he boarded what he said was the first British Challenger 2 main battle tank to arrive in Ukraine.
Britain said in January it will send 14 of its tanks to Ukraine, which is preparing to be able to counter-offensive against the Russian forces that invaded 13 months ago.
Reznikov wrote on Twitter that the tanks had “recently arrived in our country,” and posted a video showing him sitting in one of a long line of tanks in an open field, all waving the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag.
“It was a pleasure to take the first Ukrainian Challenger 2 MBT [main battle tank] to play, “Reznikov wrote. “This fantastic machine will soon begin its combat mission.”
It was a pleasure to take the first Ukrainian Challenger 2 MBT for a spin.
The tank, supplied by the British, has recently arrived in our country.
These beautiful machines are about to embark on a combat mission.
Thanks, @RishiSunak, @BWallaceMPand 🇬🇧 people. pic.twitter.com/zoCRmKdBnN
In the video, he gave the thumbs up and thanked British Defense Minister Ben Wallace for the tank.
Germany’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks and 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles had also arrived in Ukraine.
Ukraine also says it needs the shells as a vital part of its war effort. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday that France would double its supply of 155 millimeter shells to Ukraine to about 2,000 a month.
PBB Grossi returns to address nuclear plant concerns
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian army was holding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant “hostage” and that its safety could not be guaranteed until it was abandoned, while his troops sealed off the frontline town of Avdiivka as they planned their next move.
Russian forces have taken control of the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, since the early weeks of the invasion of Ukraine and have shown no inclination to relinquish control.
“Holding a nuclear power station hostage for more than a year – this is definitely the worst thing that has happened in the history of nuclear power in Europe or in the whole world,” Zelenskyy said in a nightly video address.
The comments came after a meeting with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Ukraine. A team of IAEA experts since September has been stationed at the factory, which Kyiv accuses Moscow of using as a shield for military forces and hardware.
Initiatives to restore safety and security are “doomed to failure” without the withdrawal of Russian forces from the plant, Zelenskyy said in comments posted on the president’s website.
Grossi has repeatedly called for a safe zone around him and should visit again this week. He has tried to negotiate with both sides, but said in January that striking a deal was becoming more difficult.
In a warning to the West not to continue to hold Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have increasingly raised the risk of nuclear weapons being used in war. On Saturday, Putin said he had struck a deal to put tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a Moscow ally.
Belarus’ Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had agreed to host nuclear weapons to protect itself after years of “unprecedented pressure” from the West. He said the move did not violate international non-proliferation treaties.
Ukraine and its Western allies have denied the plan.
A ‘post-apocalyptic’ situation in a Ukrainian city
Meanwhile, Russia launched a total of 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said early Tuesday, adding that its forces had killed 14 of them.
On the battlefield, Russian forces appear to be focused on Avdiivka, 90 kilometers south of the devastated mining town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine closed Avdiivka to civilians on Monday, with officials describing it as a “post-apocalyptic” wasteland.
WATCH | A complex of de-mining operations, including Ukrainian grain fields:
Landmines are killing much of Ukraine’s land, creating a danger to civilians and the military. Canadian forces are training the Ukrainians how to find and mitigate danger, skills they will need for years to come.
The Ukrainian military has warned that Avdiivka could become a “second Bakhmut,” which has been reduced to rubble in months of fighting that both sides describe as a “meat grinder.”
Denis Pushilin, the Russian leader installed in the Moscow-controlled part of Donetsk, said on Tuesday that Russian forces were still advancing in Bakhmut despite fierce Ukrainian resistance. They say that they almost took control of the metal factory on the west side of the Bakhmutka River.
The claim contradicts Ukrainian and Western claims that the situation in Bakhmut has stabilized as the Russian offensive has stopped.
Ukrainian forces reported repelling 62 Russian attacks in the east in the past 24 hours. Reuters could not verify the battlefield report.
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