Ukraine Receives Secret Shipment of Missiles; Russia prepares offensive

It was a joyful week for Ukraine in which, among other things, it secured billions in support (61 billion dollars) from the US and was able to announce a secret delivery. Earlier this year, the US delivered ATACMS that can achieve even further goals. “It has been kept secret at the request of Ukraine,” says defense specialist Peter Wijninga of the The Hague Center for Strategic Studies.

BNR lists the most important news about the war in Ukraine this week for you so that you are fully informed.

The long-range missiles have long been a controversial topic for the Americans, because they feared that Ukraine would also use the weapons to target Russian territory. However, Ukraine has assured that it will only attack the Russians on Ukrainian territory, so that the weapons that can travel a distance of 300 kilometers have still been delivered. Secretly, that is what Ukraine itself wanted for the ‘surprise effect’, thinks foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg. However, he also suspects that Biden did not want to name the delivery for a while in order not to thwart the discussion about a new support package.

Support package

This new support package has now been introduced after months of political wrangling. And that at exactly the right time, says Ukraine correspondent Chris Colijn. He sees that Ukraine is having a difficult time at the front. “The Russians are pushing hard and they also want to start a major offensive in the next two months.” In the meantime, a small success seems to be on the horizon for Russia in the short term due to the possible fall of Khasiv Yar. ‘That is ten kilometers outside Bachmut. The Russians are now very much on the offensive there and will probably attack in the coming weeks.’

But with the new American support package and the secret delivery of long-range missiles, Ukraine can again put considerable pressure on the Russians at the front, thinks Europe reporter Geert Jan Hahn. With the ATACMS, Ukraine can attack targets further behind the front. ‘Especially with the aim of chasing the Russians away. We have seen that before in the Black Sea region.’

Middle East

Meanwhile, Moscow also has to worry about a war elsewhere in the world, namely the Middle East. Although tensions between Israel and Iran appear to have subsided somewhat, Russia cannot use an ‘all-out war’ in the region, says Ron Keller, former diplomat and former ambassador to Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and China, among others. ‘A weakened Israel and a weakened Iran are neither in Russian interests. Tehran is currently one of Putin’s last real allies and main supplier of weapons. In fact, all sectors of the Russian economy now trade with Tehran.’