Ukrainian defense line extended to 1126 km
British anti-tank and Canadian special forces dispatched
US Secretary of State Blincoln visits Ukraine and Germany
As Russia gathers its troops in Belarus as well as raises the warning of an invasion of Ukraine, western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are also increasing their military support to Ukraine in earnest, maximizing military tension.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on the 17th (local time) that Russia and Belarus would hold joint military exercises next month through the state news agency, The Guardian reported. Russia, which has been gathering 100,000 troops in eastern Ukraine since last year, is using its ally Belarus as leverage to deploy troops to the northern border of Ukraine. As a result, the Guardian reported that Ukraine’s defense line once morest Russia expanded not only to the east but also to the north, extending a total of 1,126 km.
President Lukashenko said the exercise was already planned for December last year, but did not specify the specific size and timing. Belarusian security chief Alexander Volpovic said Russian troops were already arriving in Belarus one following another for training.
In response, the West has also begun providing military aid to Ukraine. Britain has supplied anti-tank weapons and Canada has sent small special forces units, Archyde.com reported. It is a Western movement once morest Russia that has been caught in the media following the recent US carrier group’s stand-by in the Mediterranean Sea.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Parliament that “the initial supply has already entered Ukraine and a small British army will be supporting the weapons training.” The Times estimated that the weapon mentioned by the defense minister was a next-generation lightweight anti-tank missile (NLAW) that might be operated by a single soldier. This missile, which faced the Taliban in Afghanistan, was capable of destroying tanks and armored vehicles with a thickness of 500 mm or more. Canada, which has the third largest number of Ukrainian immigrants in the world, is known to have dispatched its own special forces as part of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) operation.
US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln will visit Ukraine for two days starting on the 18th (local time). After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleva the day following his visit, Secretary Blincoln will discuss countermeasures once morest Germany, Britain, France and Russia in Berlin, Germany on the 20th. Earlier on the 17th, the Washington Post reported that a nonpartisan delegation of seven US senators from the opposition and the opposition met with President Zelensky and others to show solidarity and support.
Ahn Dong-hwan, staff reporter
