American soldiers prepare an M1 Abrams tank. The first tanks of this type out of the 31 promised by the United States to Ukraine have now arrived in Ukraine and will soon be put into service. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/Ritzau Scanpix
Ukraine
- Ukraine has received the first U.S. M1 Abrams tanks. The country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, announced on Monday on Telegram. “There is good news from Minister Umerov,” he wrote, referring to Ukraine’s new defence minister, Rustem Umerov. “Abrams is already in Ukraine and is being prepared to reinforce our brigades,” Zelenskiy wrote. The president did not say how many tanks had arrived. It has been four months since Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive in eastern and southern Ukraine, where large areas are occupied by Russian forces. The Ukrainian government has reported slow but steady progress. From the United States, intelligence sources have expressed concern that the counteroffensive has not quite yielded the expected results. Ukrainian forces have gained ground but have not yet forced a major Russian withdrawal, as happened three times last year. /ritzau/Reuters/
- According to Ukraine, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander-in-chief, Viktor Sokolov, died in an attack on the naval headquarters in Crimea last week. “34 were killed, including the commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet. 105 other occupiers were wounded,” special forces wrote Monday on X. Independent sources have not confirmed the report. The attack took place on Friday. After the attack, smoke rose from the headquarters in central Sevastopol – Crimea’s largest city. Ukraine has recently carried out several attacks against the city. /ritzau/