#soledar

“The United States said on Wednesday it would supply Ukraine with 31 of its most advanced battle tanks after Germany broke a taboo with a similar announcement, moves hailed by Kyiv as a potential turning point in its battle to repel Russia's invasion.

The U.S. decision to deliver M1 Abrams tanks helped break a diplomatic logjam with Germany over how to best to help Kyiv in its war with Russia, which hours earlier had condemned Berlin's decision to provide Leopard 2 tanks as a dangerous provocation.

Washington had been wary of the idea of deploying the difficult-to-maintain Abrams but had to change tack to persuade Germany to send its more easily operated Leopard 2 tanks - the workhorse of NATO armies across Europe - to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden announced the U.S. decision in remarks at the White House, saying the tanks were needed to help the Ukrainians "improve their ability to maneuver in open terrain."

Biden thanked Germany for its move and listed further military hardware that NATO allies and other European countries were supplying. "Germany has really stepped up," he said.

"The expectation on the part of Russia is we’re going to break up,” Biden said of the United States and European allies. “But we are fully, totally and thoroughly united.”

Kyiv has been calling for months for Western main battle tanks that would give its forces greater firepower, protection and mobility to break through long-static front lines and potentially reclaim occupied territory in the east and south.

Senior Biden administration officials said it would take some months for the Abrams to be delivered and described the move as providing for Ukraine's long-term defence.

"There is no offensive threat to Russia (itself)," Biden said. Moscow increasingly casts the war as a perilous face-off between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO alliance.”-via Reuters

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“Norway plans to send Leopard 2A4 to Ukraine, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said on Jan. 25.

He didn’t specify the number of tanks Norway would send to Ukraine, but Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv wrote on Jan. 24 that Norway is considering sending eight out of the 36 Leopard 2A4 tanks it currently has.

Norway said on Jan. 5 that it had already sent 10,000 ammunition shells to Ukraine. The Norwegian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Jan. 4 that donated artillery shells can be used in the M109 howitzers that Norway has donated in the past.

Germany confirmed on Jan. 25 that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries, such as Norway, to send their own Leopards to Kyiv.

The long-awaited tanks will be delivered from the stocks of the German army, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Bloomberg in an emailed statement.“This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability,” Scholz said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

“We are acting in a way that is closely agreed and coordinated internationally.””-via Kyiv Independent

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“Two Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut said Wednesday that they feared an attempted encirclement of the city by Russian forces, though they did not expect a dramatic change in the coming days.

“The situation in the city is very alarming, but we keep fighting,” one soldier, whom CNN is not identifying for security reasons, said.

The unnamed soldier in Bakhmut, with whom CNN has been in constant contact for weeks, said that “there are intense street battles for every house in the east, northeast and southeast,” but said that, while the Russian threat continued to grow, he did not believe that the Russians were likely to make any significant progress in the coming days.

“This is very worrying for us, and for everyone who is sane, especially those who saw what happened to the people surrounded in Soledar. And we were there. And no one wants it to happen again," the soldier said. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister acknowledged that Russia is “intensifying their pressure” on the eastern city of Bakhmut.

“The enemy throws a significant number of personnel, weapons and military equipment into the battle, trying to break through our defense, suffers significant losses, but does not abandon its plans,” Hanna Maliar said on Telegram. “Now in Donbas, against their superiority in the number of soldiers and weapons, we have the advantage of professional military command and courage of soldiers.””-via CNN

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“The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on allies in possession of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to send “as many of them as possible” now that Germany has said it will give Kyiv tanks from Berlin’s own inventory and approve their re-export from other countries to Ukraine.

An aide to Ukraine’s Presidential Administration Mykhailo Podolyak told CNN last week that Kyiv wanted “300 to 400 of these tanks,” which he said could, “sharply accelerate the tempo of the war and initiate the closing stages.”

CNN cannot confirm the total number of Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered, but pledges made by at least five countries mean the Ukrainian military is in line to receive dozens of the tanks.

It comes as the United States said it will send 31 of its M1 Abrams to Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday. The UK also previously announced it will send 14 of their Challenger 2 tanks.

Here’s a look at what countries have pledged so far:

Germany: Berlin has said it will provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks, which it described as “a first step."

Poland: A top foreign policy adviser to the Polish President has told CNN that Warsaw wanted to send “one company” of tanks. Marcin Przydacz, Head of the President’s International Policy Bureau, would not specify exactly how many tanks Poland intended to send but said that a company of tanks was usually made up of “between 10 and 14 Leopard 2 vehicles.”

The Netherlands: Prime Minister Mark Rutte told CNN affiliate RTL News on Wednesday that his government would “seriously consider” purchasing the 18 Leopard 2 tanks it leases from Germany and sending them to Ukraine. The Netherlands doesn’t own any of the tanks.

Norway: Two Oslo-based newspapers reported on Tuesday that the Norwegian government was considering whether to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to Reuters. Dagens Naeringsliv reported that Norway might contribute between 4 and 8 of the country’s 36 Leopard 2 tanks. The Norwegian defense minister told CNN: “We do not wish to comment on these deliberations or any ongoing or future contributions.”

Spain: Defense Minister Margarita Robles has said Madrid is willing to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Spanish state news agency EFE reported Wednesday. However Robles said it was not immediately possible to determine how many of the tanks might be sent.

Portugal: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that Portugal was among the countries “willing to provide” tanks to Ukraine. On Friday, the Portuguese Minister of Defense reiterated to Western officials at a meeting in Ramstein, Germany, Portugal’s “offer of training in this typology of fighting vehicle, and expressed the Portuguese government’s willingness to identify, in coordination with its partners, ways of endowing Ukraine with this capacity.””-via CNN

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“The Ukrainian military withdrew from the salt-mining town of Soledar “to save the lives of the personnel,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said on Jan. 25

This is the first time Ukraine has confirmed its withdrawal from the town, located in Donetsk Oblast, ten kilomteres north of the embattled city of Bakhmut. While Russia had claimed complete victory in Soledar by Jan. 13, Ukraine repeatedly said that fighting still raged in the town.

In a commentary to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, Cherevatyi said that Ukraine was able to exhaust Russian troops, making it more difficult for them to continue its offensive in the Bakhmut sector.

There was no encirclement or capture of Ukrainian troops before the withdrawal from Soledar, according to Cherevaty.

“They completed the main task,” Cherevaty told Suspilne, adding that Ukrainain forces remained outside the outskirts of Soledar, strengthening defensive lines.

Neither the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces nor Ukrainian officials have made a statement about the loss of Soledar yet.

Earlier, the Kyiv Independent’s sources in the military, as well as international monitors, all fully agreed Ukraine no longer controls the town.