Ukraine Russia news: US to send fleet of Abrams tanks to Kyiv as Putin’s spokesman says they will ‘burn’

The United States will provide 31 new M1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of America’s efforts to help bolster Ukraine’s defence against the nearly year-old war being waged by Russia, multiple Biden administration officials have said.

The 31 tanks will be accompanied by eight M88 recovery vehicles — heavily armoured tow trucks used to rescue tanks that have been disabled or damaged in battle — and will be enough to equip an entire Ukrainian tank battalion with the American-made beasts, which first gained worldwide recognition for their firepower and armour capability during engagements with Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

President Joe Biden is expected to speak about the provisioning of tanks and other assistance to Ukraine from the White House at 12.00 pm on Wednesday.

The head of the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine‘s Donetsk region claims that units of the Wagner contract militia are advancing in the town of Bakhmut.

“The enemy is increasing pressure on the Bakhmut and Vuhledar areas,” Ukraine‘s Deputy Defence Minister, Hanna Maliar, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, she said, was throwing a significant number of personnel and equipment into battle despite heavy losses.

“The intensity of the fighting is increasing.”

The key to providing tanks for Ukraine‘s defence against Russia was speed and sufficient numbers, president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.

In his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky also said he had spoken to Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg and called for supplies of long-range missiles and aircraft to add to the commitments by the United States and Germany to provide advanced battle tanks.

“The key now is speed and volumes. Speed in training our forces, speed in supplying tanks to Ukraine. The numbers in tank support,” Zelensky said.

“We must form such a tank force, such a freedom force that after it strikes, tyranny will never again rise up.”

The White House says it may take many months for the powerful US tanks that president Joe Biden agreed to send to Ukraine to reach their destination.

Ukraine needs to be ready for when the weather improves and a Russian offensive picks up speed, said White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby.

He said that Washington has to be prepared to support Ukraine for as long as it takes and that there is no indication that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has designs on striking Nato territory.

Two British nationals were killed in Ukraine attempting a humanitarian evacuation from the town of Soledar, one of their families has said.

Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Christopher Parry, 28, went missing earlier this month while heading to the town of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region of the country, where heavy fighting was reported.

On Tuesday Mr Parry’s family confirmed the men were killed, in a statement released through the Foreign Office they said saved over 400 lives in Ukraine.

Germany has announced it is sending its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine – and allowing other nations to do so too.

Ukraine‘s President Volodymyr Zelensky says they are crucial to replenish his nation’s military hardaware ahead of what he believes will be increased Russian offences in the spring – with intense fighting having already been taking place in eastern Ukraine for weeks. Kyiv also wants them to try and recapture territory taken by Moscow’s forces.

Slovakia last year delivered eight Zuzana howitzer artillery pieces to Ukraine and is working to produce an additional 16 of the guns which would be paid for by Denmark, Germany and Norway.

Defence minister Jaroslav Nad said the Ukrainian government had expressed an interest in buying an additional 11 of the howitzers and a contract had been negotiated.

Slovakia also helps Ukraine to train its soldiers. He said the country was helping to train about 200 Ukrainian soldiers for mechanised infrantry each month starting last October.

President Vladimir Putin took a swipe at Western countries by suggesting some were using the Ukraine war as an excuse to “cancel” Russian culture.

Speaking during a visit to Moscow State University, he said that despite his unsubstantiated claim, Russians would continue to enjoy Beethoven and Bach.

“We are part of world culture,” he said.

In his remarks, Putin made only an indirect allusion to current international tensions, commenting that Germany “strictly speaking” remained under US military occupation – a reference to allied troops stationed in the Nato country.

“Much of what is happening (now) has deep roots… Sovereignty will be returned to Europe, but it seems this will take time,” he added.

Russian activist hackers knocked several German websites offline on Wednesday in response to Berlin’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine.

Hacking group Killnet said it was targeting government websites, banks and airports with a coordinated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) campaign, a relatively unsophisticated attack which works by directing high volumes of internet traffic towards targeted servers in order to knock them offline.

“Currently, some websites are not accessible. There are currently no indications of direct effects on the respective service and, according to the BSI’s assessment, these are not to be expected if the usual protective measures are taken,” the BSI said in a statement.

Some financial sector targets had also been affected, the statement added.