Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko says soldiers need radio equipment, armored jackets, helmets, anti-aircraft missiles, Javelins, helmets and more to continue fending off Russian invaders.
Wearing a flac jacket and surrounded by soldiers shortly after returning from the frontline of Kyiv, Poroshenko told CNN praised the Biden administration’s leadership as ‘really tremendous’.
‘I want to thank Joseph Biden, I want to thank American people, and I want thank NATO for their contribution in this success,’ Poroshenko said. ‘The Ukrainian army proved that Ukraine is a real asset to NATO. Just imagine how strong and resilient the alliance would be with Ukraine.’
While sanctions are serving as an effective way to weaken Russia, he said more anti-tank missiles are needed as the battle for control of the country rages on.
‘Every single combat operator should be equipped with anti-tank missiles and that will stop Russian tanks,’ Poroshenko said. ‘Russian tank drivers will refuse to go to Ukraine because that will be unavoidable.
‘All of the nation is fighting. Instead of the glory flowers, Russia receives Molotov cocktails.’
Petro Poroshenko, former president of Ukraine, said Sunday that troops need more supplies to continue fighting Russians over control of the country
Amid lowering morale among Russian troops – who’ve run out of gas, gotten lost, and been attacked by locals while asking for directions in Ukraine – and strengthening sanctions, Vladimir Putin ordered the forces operating Russia’s nuclear deterrent to be on alert.
Poroshenko, a 56-year-old billionaire who joined the fight to defend Ukraine, said the implications of the conflict could extend beyond European borders.
‘Now it’s clear: Putin has launched a war not only against Ukraine, but against the West. Ukraine is only the first phase of this war, and today’s Putin decision to put Russian nuclear deterrent forces on high alert creates a completely new security situation.
He added: ‘This nuclear madness Putin posed is a much greater threat to the world than Bin Laden. In helping Ukraine to counter the invasion, you are helping yourself to minimize potential loses of your countries in the next phase of the Putin madness.’
As the battle rages on, ssoldiers need radio equipment, armored jackets, helmets, anti-aircraft missiles, Javelins, helmets and more to continue fending off the Russians, Poroshenko said. Local residents are pictured training near Kyiv on January 30, 2022
The former president said: ‘Every single combat operator should be equipped with anti-tank missiles and that will stop Russian tanks.’ A Russian armored personnel carrier is pictured burning next to an unidentified soldier’s body on February 27, 2022
A Ukrainian solider examines a destroyed Russian vehicle after a fight in Kharkiv on February 27, 2022
About 4,500 Russian troops have died and 50 aircrafts have been shot down since the conflict began last week, he said.
In an effort to stop the bloodshed, Kyiv and Moscow will hold peace talks at the border with Belarus, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Sunday. The meeting will happen as The Ukrainian president’s office said the two delegations will meet ‘without preconditions’ near the Pripyat River, to the north of Chernobyl, in a deal brokered in a phone call with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
‘Alexander Lukashenko has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s travel, talks and return,’ the statement said.
Zelensky described his discussion with Lukashenko as ‘very substantive’, adding that he had made it clear he did not want troops to move from Belarus to Ukraine and Lukashenko ‘assured him of this’.
Poroshenko warned that the Putin-led invasion of Ukraine is only the first phase of the Russian president’s plan of ‘madness’
Smoke rises from a destroyed Russian tank in the Lugansk region on February 26, 2022. Poroshenko said about 4,500 Russian soldiers have died in the conflict
In a televised address, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the talks were called after Belarus prepared its forces to join the Russian invasion.
‘Today, we were as close as ever to the entry of Belarus armed forces into the war. This is why President Zelensky and President Lukashenko spoke today,’ he said in his address.
‘We have to defend our northern flank and we have to minimize the threats coming from there. So we agreed to send a delegation to the location on the Ukrainian-Belarus border and we go to there to listen to what Russia has to say.
‘We are going there without preliminary agreement on what the outcome of these talks can be. We are going there to say what we think of this war and Russia’s actions.’
Ukrainian’s army has killed 4,500 Russian troops and shot down 50 aircrafts. A Ukrainian soldier is pictured examining a destroyed Russian vehicle on February 27, 2022
In a televised address, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (right) said the talks were called after Belarus prepared its forces to join the Russian invasion. ‘Today, we were as close as ever to the entry of Belarus armed forces into the war. This is why President Zelensky and President Lukashenko (left) spoke today,’ he said in his address.
Kuleba said Belarus had assured Ukraine that no Belarusian military force will be use against Kyiv while the talks take place, but he insisted Ukraine’s military military would continue to ‘fiercely defend’ the country against Russia attacks in the meantime.
‘I think the fact Russia wants to talk without any pre-conditions or any ultimatums, without any demands addressed to Ukraine, is already a victory for Ukraine,’ he added.
Iskander missiles were launched from Belarus to Ukraine around 5pm (3pm GMT), an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said.
It came as Putin declared, in his own televised address, that he had ordered troops operating the nuclear deterrent onto a ‘special regime of duty’ in light of ‘aggressive statements’ from NATO leaders and ‘unfriendly economic actions’. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg responded: ‘This is dangerous rhetoric’.
Russian forces entered Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv on Sunday after failing in their overnight efforts to seize control of the capital city of Kyiv on February 26, 2022
A Ukrainian serviceman and his dog stand in a position near smoke from a burned petroleum storage depot behind after a Russian missile attacked near Kyiv on February 27, 2022
Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia at the Hague, with Mr Zelensky requesting that the UN International Court of Justice orders Russia to stop its attack against Ukraine and starts trials soon.
Meanwhile, the EU unveiled a new package of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, closing off its airspace to all Russian planes and banning Kremlin propaganda outlets Russia Today and Sputnik.
Earlier today, in a speech to mark Russia’s special forces day, Putin thanked soldiers for ‘heroically fulfilling their military duty’ in Ukraine, before parroting his propaganda line that his armies are providing assistance to the ‘people’s republics of Donbas’ – referring to two rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine that Russia recognized as independent states ahead of its invasion.
‘I want to thank the command, the personnel of the special operations forces, veterans of the special forces units for their loyalty to the oath, for their impeccable service in the name of the people of Russia and our great motherland,’ he said.
Ukrainian fighters are pictured testing an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry vehicle on February 27, 2022
Russian forces stormed Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv today after failing in their overnight efforts to seize control of the capital city of Kyiv.
However reports in Ukraine suggest troops have managed to successfully repel the Russian advance on Kharkiv, which is close to the Russian border, with one British reporter on the ground confirming that the city remains under Ukrainian control despite this morning’s attack.
Oleh Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, today said Ukrainian troops had managed to reclaim the city. In a post on Telegram, he said: ‘Control over Kharkiv is completely ours!
‘The armed forces, the national police, and the defence forces are working and the city is being completely cleansed of the enemy.’
Kharkiv’s defence came as Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence today claimed Ukrainian troops had killed or injured more than 4,300 Russian soldiers in the first three days of fighting. Russia has not released an updates on its military losses.
The Kremlin has so far not declared any fatalities from the fighting, although the head of the Dagestan regional government recently offered his condolences to the family of a slain paratrooper, in what may have been a case of veering off the official script.
A US official told Reuters that Russia had committed around two-thirds of its combat power inside Ukraine and launched more than 320 missiles over the course of the conflict.
In an article today, UK Armed Forces minister James Heappey has insisted Putin’s ‘days are numbered’ if he fails in Ukraine, with his campaign falling ‘well behind’ its planned timeline.
