UK to supply tanks to Ukraine as Russian missiles hit Kyiv

Amid renewed missile attacks by Moscow targeting the Ukrainian capital and other cities, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday promised to facilitate tanks and artillery system to Ukraine.

Challenger 2 tanks, other artillery pledged

In a statement, Sunak’s Downing Street office said that he made the pledge to provide Challenger 2 tanks and other artillery systems after speaking to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday. However, it didn’t spell out details like the number of tanks and the time of delivery. Without citing sources, British media has reported that 4 British Army Challenger 2 main battle tanks will be sent to eastern Europe immediately, with eight more to follow shortly after.

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UK announcement after Kyiv targeted

The announcement came several hours after a series of explosions rocked Kyiv on Saturday morning. An infrastructure object was hit in what Ukrainian officials said was a missile attack. Explosions were heard in the Dniprovskyi district, a residential area on the left bank of the Dnieper River, said Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Missile attack on Kharkiv

Earlier on Saturday, two Russian missiles hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, the governor of the Kharkiv region reported.

Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the industrial district of Kharkiv. The strikes targeted energy and industrial objects of Kharkiv and the (outlying) region. No casualties have been reported, but emergency power cuts in the city and other settlements of the region were possible, the official said.

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Conflicting reports on salt mining town

The attacks follow conflicting reports on the fate of the fiercely contested salt mining town of Soledar, in Ukraine’s embattled east.

Russia claims that its forces have captured the town, a development that would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of humiliating setbacks on the battlefield. However, Ukrainian authorities and President Zelenskyy insist the fight for Soledar continues.

Moscow has painted the battle for the town and the nearby city of Bakhmut as key to capturing the eastern region of the Donbas, which comprises of partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and as a way to grind down the best Ukrainian forces and prevent them from launching counterattacks elsewhere.

But that cuts both ways, as Ukraine says its fierce defence of the eastern strongholds has helped tie up Russian forces. Western officials and analysts say the importance of two towns is more symbolic than strategic.

(With agency inputs)