The Kremlin warned Wednesday that increasing the supply of US arms to Ukraine would aggravate the devastating 10-month war ignited by Russia‘s illegal invasion and “does not bode well” for the neighbouring country, while Russia’s defence minister said Moscow’s military must grow from 1 million to 1.5 million personnel.
Speaking during a meeting with his top military brass, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would take lessons learned in the conflict to “develop our armed forces and strengthen the capability of our troops”.
He said special emphasis would go to developing nuclear forces, which he described as “the main guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty”.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu when the 50 per cent increase in personnel strength would be achieved, but said Russia would form new units in the country’s west in view of plans by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the expansion of Western weapon supplies to Ukraine “leads to an aggravation of the conflict and, in fact, does not bode well for Ukraine”.
Peskov’s comments were the first official Russian reaction to news that Zelenskyy was heading to Washington in his first known foreign trip since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion triggered a war that has killed thousands and laid waste to towns and cities across Ukraine.
Zelenskyy is expected to leave Washington with pledges for a massive $US1.8 billion ($2.7 billion) military aid package that would help his country defend itself from Russian aggression.
The latest military hardware from the US would include for the first time a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for fighter jets, US officials said Tuesday.
Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta Center independent think tank, said Zelenskyy’s visit could help map out future strategy.
“This is indeed a very significant and symbolic visit, which should determine the course of the war. Zelenskyy for the first time dared to leave Ukraine and is counting on being able to maintain, and possibly even strengthen, US military and economic assistance to Ukraine,” Fesenko told The Associated Press.
As Zelenskyy travelled to Washington, Moscow also was involved in high-level diplomacy. The deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, met Wednesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Medvedev, a former Russian president, said in a video statement that he and Xi discussed an array of topics, including “the conflict in Ukraine.” Medvedev didn’t elaborate.
China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and criticised sanctions against Moscow. Beijing has only referred to the invasion as the “Ukraine situation” in deference to Moscow, and accused the US and NATO of provoking Putin by expanding into eastern Europe.
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In Ukraine, Russian forces pounded populated areas with more missiles and artillery Wednesday. They shelled areas around the city of Nikopol in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region overnight, its governor, Valentyn Reznichenko, said on Telegram on Wednesday morning.
Nikopol is located across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Russian forces currently occupy the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
The Ukrainian president’s office reported Wednesday that Russian attacks on Tuesday killed five civilians and wounded 17. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russia unleashed five missiles and 16 airstrikes on Ukrainian territory and 61 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems.
General Staff spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said Ukrainian forces repelled attacks around more than 25 populated areas in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, with the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka continuing to be key targets of Russia’s grinding offensive.
The bodies of seven civilians, including a teenage girl, were found in a mass grave in the village of Pravdyne in southern Ukraine’s Kherson province, the Ukrainian Defense Minister said on Wednesday. The village was held by Russian forces from March until early November.
“They simply kill,” Oleksii Reznikov wrote on Twitter. He said that as, of December 21, in the country’s northeastern Kharkiv province the bodies of about 500 civilians who died during the period of Russian occupation have been found.
Zelenskyy’s trip to the US comes a day after he made a daring and dangerous visit to the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s contested Donetsk province, which he called the hottest spot on the 1,300-kilometre front line.
Capturing Bakhmut would sever Ukraine’s supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward cities that are key Ukrainian strongholds in the Donetsk province.
In a video released by his office from the Bakhmut visit, Zelenskyy was handed a Ukrainian flag signed by soldiers and alluded to delivering it to US leaders.
“We are not in an easy situation. The enemy is increasing its army. Our people are braver and need more powerful weapons,” the Ukrainian leader said.
“We will pass it on from the boys to the Congress, to the president of the United States. We are grateful for their support, but it is not enough. It is a hint — it is not enough.”
