Ukraine Update…321 days into the Russian move on the Ukraine…US/German/Pole/Brit Tanks on the way…..

On the battlefield, a Ukrainian military chief confirmed to The Washington Post that his forces had withdrawn from the eastern town of Soledar. Russia’s capture of the small salt mining city in the eastern Donetsk region marks its first significant territorial gain since July.

Germany approves Leopards for Ukraine, as U.S. promises M1 tanks

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

• Germany aims to have the Leopard 2 tanks integrated on the battlefield by the end of March, the Defense Ministry said, helping arm Ukraine for a potential spring offensive. That leaves a tight window for logistics and training, which will begin in Germany “basically immediately,” said ministry spokesperson, Arne Collatz.
• The M1 Abrams tanks are unlikely to arrive by springwhen both Russian and Ukrainian forces are set to begin new offensives. They will be ordered from manufacturers rather than transferred from existing U.S. stocks, officials said. The decision to announce them now appeared designed to break a logjam with the Germans, providing Berlin with the cover it needed to feel comfortable sending its own weapons.
• Zelensky said the number of tanks and how long it will take to deliver them to Ukraine is “critical.” In anexcerpt of an interview with Sky News, slated to air in full on Thursday, he thanked Germany, Britain and the United States. “But speaking frankly, the number of tanks and the delivery time to Ukraine is critical,” he said.
• Russia has lashed out at the moves to send tanks. “This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation,” said Russia’s ambassador to Germany, Sergey Nechayev, adding that it had caused “irreparable damage” to relations between Berlin and Moscow and accusing Germany of “pumping” Kyiv with lethal weapons. In Moscow, Peskov said the decision left little prospect for a “diplomatic way out” of the war. Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, called the reported U.S. decision to send tanks a “blatant provocation.”
• Ukraine needs a “strong state,” Zelensky said after several senior officials resigned or were removed Tuesday. He promised to make wide-ranging personnel changes amid a public outcry over corruption allegations involving government and law enforcement officials. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it would introduce “unified menus” for military personnel, to be implemented in four to five months, in response to reports that food was purchased for the military at inflated prices.

What to know about M1 Abrams tanks and why they matter to Ukraine

• The historic center of the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa was added Wednesday to a United Nations list of “World Heritage Sites in Danger,” after an accelerated procedure that paves the way for additional financial and technical assistance. “While the war continues, this inscription embodies our collective determination to ensure that this city, which has always surmounted global upheavals, is preserved from further destruction,” Audrey Azoulay, director general of UNESCO, said in a statement.
• Two British men were killed while attempting to evacuate civilians in eastern Ukraine, according to a family statement. Andrew Bagshaw, a dual citizen of Britain and New Zealand, and Chris Parry were volunteers delivering humanitarian assistance to the front lines. The two men were last seen departing for the city of Soledar, the site of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces earlier this month.
• Senior security officials from Germany, France, Britain and the United States will meet Wednesday in Washington to discuss Ukraine’s requests for more assistance. A statement from the White House said President Biden spoke with the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom “as part of our close coordination on support for Ukraine.”….
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• Ukrainian forces withdrew from the eastern city of Soledar, military spokesman Sergiy Cherevaty told The Post on Wednesday. Ukrainian forces “withdrew in an organized manner and nothing chaotic. They withdrew and took up defense,” he said, adding that they had inflicted “colossal losses on the enemy.” The Post could not independently verify his claims. Cherevaty declined to say when the withdrawal took place.
• Ukraine’s military said Russian offensives are continuing around the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka areas in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday. Dozens of settlements were attacked, and the threat of rocket strikes remained high.
• Russia is preparing “a small number of T-14 Armata main battle tanks” for their first operational deployment in Ukraine, according to a daily British military intelligence update on Wednesday. However, Russian forces previously have been reluctant to use those tanks because they are “in such poor condition,” the British update said, and officials have publicly criticized them. As such, “it is unlikely that any deployed T-14 tanks will have met the usual standards for new equipment to be deemed operational,” it added….

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