The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has once again complained about what he sees as the West’s lack of military support in his country’s defense against Russian invading troops.
“Unfortunately, some of the support is slowing down and we need to do everything we can to improve our own capabilities,” he told a meeting of local and regional authorities on Friday in Chernivtsi in western Ukraine.
Nevertheless, everything must be done to ensure that the world’s attention remains focused on Ukraine. The current problem area in Ukraine is the energy sector, which is the target of constant, serious Russian attacks and is already suffering from major power outages. Although the government in Kiev is trying to further expand anti-aircraft defense, the individual communities should keep an eye on the problems. “We have to prepare for the next heating season at all levels – in communities, in the authorities and in our energy companies,” emphasized Zelensky.
“Faster than the enemy”
At a subsequent meeting with Ukrainian business representatives, Zelensky said that the defense industry remained a top priority. “There is war and we have to be faster than the enemy,” said Zelensky. “But the economy that creates jobs is just as important.” However, the war, or more precisely the constant Russian attacks, led to companies relocating to the regions.
After the war, Zelensky is counting on a kind of Marshall Plan from the USA and the EU for the reconstruction of Ukraine. “Yes, there are such plans,” he said on Friday in an interview with students at universities in Chernivtsi. It won’t be a Marshall Plan in the strict sense, but “something similar in principle,” said Zelensky. “Anyway, it’s about reconstruction, new energies, new technologies and new economy,” the Ukrainian president was quoted as saying by the Unian agency. The Marshall Plan was a billion-dollar US economic support program for the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War.
Ban on the import of metals
Meanwhile, the USA and Great Britain expanded their import ban on Russian-made metals. Aluminum, copper and nickel from Russia produced after April 13th will no longer be traded on the world’s two largest metal exchanges in London and Chicago, the US and British Treasury announced on Saturday night. This would exclude Russian metal producers from the profits of the London Metal Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and reduce an important source of income for the Kremlin to finance its war in Ukraine.
Ukraine: Russia’s new offensive
The joint action by the two countries is based on the ban on metal imports and targets Russian exports of aluminum, copper and nickel worth $40 billion, the British Treasury said. Metals are Russia’s largest export after energy. Metal exchanges play a central role in facilitating trade in industrial metals around the world.
Heavy fighting in the east
The Ukrainian military leadership reported on Friday of new heavy fighting in the east of the country. In the region around Bakhmut alone, 24 Russian attacks were repelled during the day, the General Staff said in its situation report. The Russian military carried out 16 attacks in the area around Avdiivka. Around 80 battles were registered on all sectors of the front together, as well as over 70 Russian air strikes. The attacks could not be independently verified.
According to initial information from local authorities, at least six people, including a child, were killed in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-occupied town of Tokmak in southern Ukraine on Friday. Another 20 people were seriously injured in the attack on a residential area in Tokmak, the Russian state agency Tass reported. This information also could not be independently verified.
Relaxation
Despite the massive pressure from Russian forces on the front lines in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has found ways to offer its soldiers opportunities to relax. “The planned rotation of the units that have been deployed in the combat areas since the beginning of the all-out invasion continues,” the General Staff in Kiev said on Facebook on Friday evening. Opportunities had been found to alternately withdraw brigades from the fronts and give them a break.
Newly ordered units to the fronts were filled with reservists and reinforced. “This process will continue,” it said. Many Ukrainian soldiers had fought on the fronts for almost two years without a break. Only at the beginning of this year it was decided in Kiev to temporarily transfer many of the front-line fighters into the reserve and to strengthen the armed forces by calling up new recruits.