France to deliver howitzers soon; Reykjavik pledges €2M for Prague’s ammo initiative; No answers from Kremlin yet about its missiles in NATO airspace

March 27, 2024

Overview:

• Russian ambassador to Poland ignores summons to explain projectile incident
• Iceland joins Czech initiative to procure more projectiles for Ukraine
• Paris says “it’s wrong” to depend on US to “pay so much for the security of Europeans”
• As Moscow-shooting suspects are arrested, Kremlin’s blame game on the West is mystifying, Zelensky says

French defense minister announces delivery to Kyiv of 78 howitzers, and fast

At a press conference Tuesday, France’s Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu said that his country, along with Ukraine and Denmark, had reached an agreement to finance the delivery of 78 Caesar 155mm self-propelled howitzers, and Paris vowed to “deliver them quickly.”

Lecornu added that France intends to supply Kyiv with some 80,000 rounds of ammunition for the big guns, representing a 167 percent increase in such supplies since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

The Franco-Danish cooperation with Ukraine coincides with an initiative spearheaded by Prague to locate and pay for ammunition outside the European Union; Lecornu said that Paris was also actively involved in that effort. He said that Europe needed to continue increasing its financial support for Ukraine because US lawmakers haven’t been able to vote on the $61 billion package for Kyiv and that this is more Europe’s responsibility.

“This is an absolute necessity,” Lecornu said. “I think it’s wrong that American taxpayers should pay so much for the security of Europeans.”

Polish Foreign Ministry still awaiting answers from Russia about airspace breach

The chief Russian diplomatic envoy to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, neglected to appear before Poland’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, following a Russian aerial strike on Ukraine that included a cruise missile flying over Poland’s airspace for nearly 40 seconds.

He “did not come to the foreign ministry today to explain the incident,” Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said in an official statement.

Reuters cited the Russian diplomat as saying he didn’t arrive at the Polish government body because he hadn’t been provided evidence of the incident that day.

The Russian projectile was reportedly recorded flying over Polish airspace for 39 seconds near the village of Oseredow, near Ukraine’s western border with the NATO-member country.

In December, Poland took no action when another Russian projectile entered its airspace during an attack on Ukraine. Another missile crossed Poland’s border the previous month and landed on its territory, reportedly, at the time, leading to the deaths of two people. Later, an investigation found that those deaths were caused by Ukrainian air defense systems firing at Russian airborne attacks.

Polish armed forces scrambled F-16 fighters during the March 24 incident, a Kyiv Post dispatch reported earlier. 

Romania, another NATO country, said that it scrambled fighter jets on Dec. 14 when debris from fallen Russian attack drones fell on its territory after targeting Ukraine’s port installations near the Danube River.

Neighboring Moldova, an aspiring NATO and EU nation, also reported in February that it found fragments of intercepted Russian drones that Iran provides on its territory.

None of the countries have taken action on these breaches beyond verbal condemnation.

Meanwhile, Moldovan Prime Minister Maia Sandu has accused Moscow of attempting a coup to remove her from power, as her country includes the separatist, pro-Kremlin enclave of Transnistria, where some 2,000 Russian soldiers are stationed.

#Russia's ambassador to #Poland refused to go to the Polish Foreign Ministry, where he was invited about the missile that violated Polish airspace

"Warsaw has not provided an evidentiary basis,"
– Sergei Andreev said.

Polish Foreign Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said in… pic.twitter.com/bJJGFSV8wE

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 26, 2024

Iceland becomes 16th country to join Czech artillery initiative for Ukraine

Iceland announced on Tuesday that it was attaching itself to the Czech-led initiative to provide Ukraine with ammunition to counter its “severe shortage of artillery shells,” the island nation’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. 

Reykjavik is expending €2 million on the effort.

“It is crucial to continue supporting Ukraine vigorously, not only to defend the people of Ukraine but also to uphold international laws in a broader context and our own security interests. Iceland’s long-term policy on support for Ukraine, currently under parliamentary discussion, will solidify this support in the long term, while simultaneously allowing us to move swiftly and support initiatives of this nature,” said Iceland’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson.

The statement said an additional €500,000 (about $550,000) was pledged to provide equipment to female Ukrainian soldiers including uniforms, medical supplies, and hygienic products.

Czechia is leading a coalition of countries to provide about a half-million 155mm shells and some 300,000 122mm shells to Kyiv as it suffers from a shortage of munitions.

The first arrivals of these supplies have benefited Kyiv already, Czech Foreign Affairs Minister Jan Lipavsky told Bloomberg.

“We can do so much more than the initially announced number,” he said about procuring artillery that could reach up to 1.5 million rounds this year.  

Moscow has lost its grip on reality, Zelensky says

Russia’s use of propaganda has caused the Kremlin to lose “connection with reality,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address to the nation.

“They are lying. And they have already lost connection with reality to a degree that they accuse us of committing what Russian troops have obviously done – obviously for everyone in the world,” Zelensky said.

He was referring to the Kremlin’s accusation that Kyiv had aided the terrorist attack in a Moscow suburban concert hall which the Islamic radical group ISIS has claimed.

Almost 140 concertgoers were killed in the attack and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has also partially debunked.

He publicly said that four of the suspects of the Jihadist group were fleeing to Belarus and not Ukraine, which contradicted the Kremlin’s accusation of Kyiv’s involvement.

Russia has provided no proof that Ukraine was behind the attack that also injured more than 100 people.

Guess who was at the Moscow 🇷🇺 terrorist attacks??

As the shooting began, Nezvorov noticed a calmly sitting man.

The 🇷🇺 FSB agent in different videos has the same jacket, watch, hairline & build.

🇺🇦 intelligence says this was a planned provocation.

👉 Attack was Moscow’s. pic.twitter.com/pkznQ0xMSa

— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) March 26, 2024

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/30133