Ukraine: new weapons on the way

The G7 promised on Monday, December 12, to “meet the urgent needs of Ukraine” after President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed at the G7 virtual meeting for the delivery of modern tanks, artillery firepower and long-range weapons, all of which are intended for use in the war against Russia. European Union foreign ministers agreed to invest an additional 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in a fund used to finance military support to Ukraine as the country is largely exhausted from nearly 10 months of war. Further top-ups may be possible at a later date.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday that he would be “open” to providing Ukraine with longer-range missiles to target Russian drone launch sites that have hit Ukrainian infrastructure. The Group of 7 leaders pledged to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia “for as long as it takes” and to convene a meeting on setting up a donor coordination platform next month. Most recently, Russia warned army suppliers to Ukraine. “Russia records in its memory all the criminal actions of the United States and its allies,” stressed the Russian permanent representative to the UN.

The countries that supply arms to Kiev and help the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) will see the legal consequences, said Friday, December 9, Russia’s representative to the UN Security Council, Vasily Nebenzia, at a meeting of the UN body on the topic of Western arms supplies to Kiev and convened at the initiative of the Russian Federation. “We carefully consider all these criminal actions of the United States and its allies, they will have specific legal consequences for all those involved,” Nebenzia was quoted by TAAS as saying. The transactions were recently acknowledged by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

According to Vasily Nebenzia, European forces are currently facing the delivery of weapons supplied to Ukraine to criminal and terrorist groups. “Another painful issue is the spread of weapons supplied to Ukraine in the world. At a UN Security Council meeting in September on this topic, we have already warned about the risks of weapons sent to Ukraine falling into the hands of terrorist and criminal groups. It is not our conjecture, but the conjecture of the police services of the European states themselves who are confronted with this,” he said.

LONDON-The Royal Marines, England’s naval elite units, took part in covert operations in Ukraine. That’s what General Robert Magowan-a former commander of the Royal Marines-admitted that Navy commandos conducted “covert operations” in an “extremely sensitive environment” that involved “a high level of political and military risk.” Nova News reports. Magowan joined the Royal Navy’s elite unit in 1989, and in an article written in “Globe and Laurel,” the official publication of the Royal Marines, he explained how 350 marines from the 45th Commando were sent to escort diplomats from the British Embassy earlier in the year, when it had become clear that Russian forces were massing for an invasion. The commandos in question also returned to Kiev in April to provide security for the embassy while the UK was restoring its diplomatic representation after the withdrawal of Russian troops from around the Ukrainian capital. London’s Defense Ministry had previously acknowledged sending a commando to protect embassy staff, but admitted only the presence of 30 military personnel.