In order to be able to beat back the Russian attackers, Ukraine ordered 100 new KTO Rosomak wheeled infantry fighting vehicles in Poland. According to the PAP news agency, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday during a visit to the manufacturing company Rosomak in Siemianowice Slaskie in Upper Silesia. According to the liberal-conservative politician, he personally received the order from the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal. The order will be financed with EU money for Poland and support payments from the USA to Ukraine, it said.
Rosomak means wolverine in Polish – this is a species of predatory animals from the marten family. The armored personnel carrier has four-wheel drive and weighs around 22 tons. It offers space for the driver, commander and gunner as well as eight infantry soldiers. Armament includes a 30mm autocannon.
But the other side is also upgrading. According to its own statements, Russia has increased its ammunition production many times over. “This applies to both ordinary and high-precision ammunition,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a General Staff meeting on Saturday. This would allow Russia to achieve its war goals. In addition, work is continuing to increase production. Schoigu’s statements could not be independently verified.
More than a year after the start of the war, both Ukraine and Russia are struggling with ammunition shortages. The West, on whose supplies Ukraine’s national defense depends, is also trying to expand its production. Months ago, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin called on the domestic arms industry to produce more weapons and ammunition. The companies work in a multi-shift system in order to meet the requirements of the military.
Meanwhile, Ukraine issued further sanctions against individuals and companies from Russia and against a company on Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. On Saturday, President Zelenskyi published several blacklists with hundreds of companies, organizations and individuals who are said to have supported the Russian war of aggression. In most cases, the sanctions apply for a period of ten years.
The directors of armaments factories and military research institutions are particularly affected. This sector is also particularly affected by companies. But sanctions were also imposed on Russia’s Treasury Ministry and the Federation Council – the upper house of Russia’s parliament. Among the most prominent names on the list are the wife and son of Russia’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, Svetlana and Ilya.
Russia’s rotational assumption of the presidency of the UN Security Council has met with sharp criticism in Kiev. In view of the Russian war of aggression against his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke of an “absurd and destructive” constellation and called for reform of the highest body of the United Nations. In the past, Kiev had doubted that Russia had legitimately taken over the permanent seat on the Security Council as the successor to the Soviet Union. In addition to Russia, the United States, Great Britain, France and China are permanent Council members with veto powers.
Only the day before, a five-month-old baby had been killed by Russian artillery fire, and now the aggressor is taking over the presidency of the UN Security Council, Zelenskyj criticized in his evening video address on Saturday. “It is hard to imagine anything better demonstrating the complete bankruptcy of such institutions.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the leadership role as a “bad April Fool’s joke”.
The presidency of the Security Council rotates monthly between the member states in alphabetical order, with the five permanent and the ten non-permanent members taking turns. Russia last held the presidency in February 2022 – when it attacked neighboring Ukraine.
