DUkraine, which was attacked by Russia, has signed a security agreement with the Netherlands. “The document provides for two billion euros in military aid from the Netherlands this year,” President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Telegram on Friday. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte traveled to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to sign the agreement.
With the contract, the leadership in The Hague promises Kiev further support in the short term with anti-aircraft defense, artillery, armored vehicles and long-range weapons. Ukraine will continue to be supported by the Netherlands in its quest to join the European Union and NATO, it is said. Similar to other previous agreements with Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Denmark and Canada, the contract was concluded for ten years.
On the sidelines of the signing, Zelenskyj and Rutte visited several residential buildings damaged by Russian shelling and the regional administration building, which was hit by a missile strike in March 2022.
Zelensky thanks the Netherlands for new arms aid
The Ukrainian president then also thanked the new arms package in his daily video message. “Today there is a new package of military assistance from the Netherlands for our soldiers,” Zelensky said. The Ukrainian president made the video recording in the megacity of Kharkiv, which has been badly affected by Russia's war of aggression.
Zelensky once again emphasized the importance of anti-aircraft defenses for protecting the country. With its participation in the coalition of states supplying Kiev F-16 fighter jets, the Netherlands made an important contribution to securing the skies over Ukraine, he said.
For March, Zelensky promised his compatriots further arms packages and new security agreements with other countries. He did not give any details. Ukraine is dependent on Western support in its two-year-long defensive battle against the Russian invasion.
Were Air Force communications intercepted?
Meanwhile, a wiretapping scandal is increasing tensions between Germany and Russia. Following allegations from Moscow, the Defense Ministry in Berlin is investigating whether communications within the Air Force were intercepted. “The Federal Office for the Military Counterintelligence Service (BAMAD) has initiated all necessary measures,” said a spokeswoman for the ministry in response to a request from the German Press Agency.
Russian media had previously reported on a possible wiretapped conversation. Bundeswehr officers can be heard discussing the theoretical possibilities of using German Taurus missiles.
The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded an explanation from the federal government after the allegedly intercepted conversation between senior Bundeswehr officers. “Attempts to avoid answers will be seen as an admission of guilt,” wrote Moscow Foreign Office spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on her Telegram channel. At the same time, Margarita Simonyan, the head of the Russian state broadcaster RT, published an alleged audio recording of the approximately 30-minute conversation. She did not say how Simonjan got the recordings.
The recording will, among other things, address the question of whether Taurus missiles would theoretically be technically capable of destroying the bridge built by Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which has been annexed since 2014. Another point in the discussion is whether Ukraine could carry out the shelling without the participation of the Bundeswehr. However, it can also be heard in the recording that there is no green light for the operation at the political level.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has emphasized several times that he is against the delivery of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. He justified this with the danger that Germany could be drawn into the war of aggression started by Russia.
Against this background, CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter expects further publications by Russia. “Several other conversations will certainly have been intercepted and may have been leaked at a later date for the benefit of Russia,” he told the news portal ZDFheute.de.
One must assume “that the conversation was deliberately leaked by Russia at this point in time with a specific intention. This can only be to prevent a Taurus delivery from Germany.” Russia wants to deter Scholz by “publicly showing how deeply Russia has already clarified the German preparations for the decision.”
Kyiv: Pressure on new front line
Because Western aid has now dwindled, Ukraine is increasingly on the defensive. According to the Ukrainian military, Russia is keeping the pressure high, especially west and southwest of the industrial city of Donetsk. In the Avdiivka area, 20 attacks were repelled, and in the Novopavlivka area the Russian military tried to break through the defense lines 25 times, the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report.
Just a few weeks ago, the Ukrainian military had to evacuate the fortress area around Avdiivka, which had been fought over for months. Now the next line of defense behind them is under pressure.
The General Staff reports attacks on the towns of Berdychi, Orlivka and Tonenke, where the Ukrainian military wanted to dig in after withdrawing from Avdiivka. Further south, after the Russian conquest of Maryinka, the Ukrainian defenders in the settlements of Krasnohorivka, Heorhiyivka and Novomykhailivka found themselves in trouble.
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