Ukraine’s Zelensky calls for more military aid ahead of battles in eastern regions
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4 min read . Updated: 11 Apr 2022, 09:17 PM IST Kyiv, Moscow deploy forces to Donbas area; Austrian chancellor to meet Putin in Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky launched a fresh appeal for military aid as the country prepares for what are expected to become the war’s biggest battles in eastern Ukraine, while refugees continued to flee westward to escape an expanding war zone.
In a virtual address to lawmakers in South Korea on Monday, Mr. Zelensky asked for military equipment, pressing the country to deliver more than the humanitarian assistance and nonlethal aid it has given so far. “We thank South Korea for the help you have provided, but in order to survive from the war with Russia we need more help," Mr. Zelensky said during the roughly 15-minute address.
Ukraine has stepped up its pleas for heavy military equipment to fight the conventional tank and artillery battles that are expected in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine. Both Ukraine and Russia are moving troops and materiel into the region. Ukrainian combat units from areas of northern Ukraine that it recovered following a Russian withdrawal there have started moving toward Donbas.
Russia’s main objective now is to seize the parts of Donbas not yet controlled by Moscow. Skirmishes along the contact line in Donbas and nearby regions continue daily, with Russian forces trying to push south of Izyum. The timing of a major campaign, Western and Ukrainian officials said, is up to Moscow, which may press the offensive imminently with available forces, or wait a few weeks to reconstitute units that suffered losses in northern Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that air-based missiles destroyed a weapons and military equipment repair base of the Ukrainian air-defense forces overnight, as well as two ammunition depots. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that the strikes targeted a repair base near Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region, and that the ammunition depots near Mykolayiv, in southern Ukraine, and Zhovtneve, west of Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast, were also destroyed. Those claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Gen. Konashenkov also said that Kalibr missiles on Sunday had destroyed parts of an S-300 antiaircraft missile system that was supplied to Ukraine “by a European country."
That claim was denied by Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, whose government last week said it had delivered an S-300 to Ukraine. The S-300 is one of many kinds of advanced weaponry that Ukraine has been urging its Western allies to deliver and would be effective against military aircraft and short-range ballistic missiles.
In Moscow, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer was expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking the first time a leader from a European Union country has visited since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The trip comes a day after Mr. Nehammer met with Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv at the weekend. The Austrian chancellor has faced criticism at home for his Moscow trip as it comes just a week after reports first appeared about atrocities allegedly committed by Russian troops against civilians during their occupation of the Kyiv region.
Mr. Nehammer said the trip was a “risky mission" but that diplomacy was now needed to end hostilities. “Everything that can be done to help the people of Ukraine and stop the war must be done," he told reporters Sunday.
Austria has traditionally close ties with Russia but has condemned alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Austrian officials said that the trip was coordinated with the leaders of EU institutions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has hosted recent Russia-Ukraine peace talks, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
More Western companies announced sales or suspensions of their Russian operations on Monday in the wake of sanctions imposed by the European Union and the U.S.
French bank Société Générale SA said it would cease its banking and insurance activities in Russia, including selling Rosbank, while Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson AB said Monday that it was suspending its business in Russia indefinitely.
Société Générale said it was selling its entire stake in Rosbank and its Russian insurance units to Interros, a conglomerate controlled by metals billionaire Vladimir Potanin.
The war is having a devastating economic impact on Ukraine. The World Bank said the country’s economy is expected to shrink by 45.1% this year, though the depth of the decline may vary depending on the duration of the war.
“The Russian invasion is delivering a massive blow to Ukraine’s economy and it has inflicted enormous damage to infrastructure," said Anna Bjerde, World Bank vice president for the Europe and Central Asia region.
—Bojan Pancevski, Yuka Hayashi and Ed Frankl contributed to this article.
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