This is the outcome of a meeting of 47 countries that supply Ukraine with weapons or want to provide the country with military assistance. A striking new contribution is that of Denmark. They will supply Ukraine with the US Harpoon missile. This anti-ship missile could pose a serious threat to the Russian Black Sea fleet.
“It was a good day,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the meeting. The conference, the second since last month, was held to look at what kind of weapons the Ukrainian military will need in the coming weeks to sustain the battle. The countries were briefed on developments on the battlefield by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and the army’s second man.
The Russian army again carried out heavy artillery shelling in the Donbas on Monday. According to Ukraine, the ceasefire line was under constant fire. The Ukrainian army is defending a more than 400 kilometer long front line in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In particular, the Russians are trying to push through to Shevyerodonetsk, the last major city in Luhansk that they do not yet have in their hands. The city also came under heavy fire from Russian artillery over the weekend.
Combat helicopters
The US, Ukraine’s largest arms supplier, convened the conference to keep the arms flow going. The Czech Republic is also sending combat helicopters among the countries that will supply new parties with weapons. In addition to Denmark and the Czech Republic, Austin also thanked the British for providing large quantities of weapons to Kyiv since the invasion began.
However, Ukraine does not have to count on new heavy weapons from the Netherlands. It remains with the five armored howitzers that The Hague supplies. “There are limits to what we can do now,” Prime Minister Rutte said last week. According to Austin, the Ukrainian army still needs the same weapons to prevent the Russians from winning in the Donbas.
This mainly concerns howitzers and other heavy artillery, tanks, armored vehicles and drones that have to carry out reconnaissance and attacks. “The battle is determined by the artillery,” Austin said of both armies firing at each other from great distances.
Rocket attacks from sea
According to the US minister, Ukrainian soldiers use the weapons with great skill. He praised the military for their “extraordinary courage and resilience.” Austin: ‘Ukraine has been fighting with guts and tactical ingenuity for three months. In this new phase, Ukraine is still fighting just as hard and just as good. Ukraine has shown the world the military and moral strength of a free people who come together to defend their democracy against aggression and atrocities.”
Denmark’s Harpoon missiles could enable Ukraine to end Russian missile strikes from the sea. The Russian navy has been carrying out attacks with Kalibr cruise missiles on targets as far as western Ukraine since the start of the invasion. However, since the loss of the cruiser Moskva, Russian warships have been operating far away from the coast.
With the Harpoon ships can be attacked up to a distance of about three hundred kilometers. Ukraine is eager to end the blockade of ports, including that of Odesa, imposed by Russia. This mainly affects grain exports.