France to supply armoured autos, missiles to Ukraine | EUROtoday

Issued on: 31/03/2024 – 11:55Modified: 31/03/2024 – 11:57

2 min

“To hold such an extensive front line, the Ukrainian army needs for example our VAB vehicles: it’s absolutely essential for troop mobility,” France ‘s Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu advised La Tribune newspaper in an interview printed Saturday.

France is at the moment phasing out its VAB fleet – a few of them greater than 40 years outdated – with new Griffon armoured autos however Lecornu mentioned the older fashions have been “still operational”.

“We’re talking about hundreds of them for 2024 and early 2025,” he mentioned.

The French authorities is pushing defence firms to ramp up manufacturing to satisfy the wants of its personal military and to make sure continued assist to Ukraine after greater than two years of warfare with Russia.

Paris may even provide extra Aster 30 anti-aircraft missiles for SAMP/T launchers, much like the US-supplied Patriot air defence methods. “We are also developing remotely operated munitions in a very short timeframe, to deliver them to Ukraine starting this summer,” Lecornu mentioned.

Fierce strikes in Lviv area

This comes as Ukraine has been below fierce Russian fireplace over the previous weeks and is struggling ammunition shortages. On Sunday, in a single day Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Lviv area killed a person, its governor mentioned. Russian cruise missiles focused crucial infrastructure within the western Lviv area and “one man died as a result of the attack”, Governor Maksym Kozytsky wrote on Telegram.

There “may still be people under the rubble” that rescuers have been combing by, he mentioned, including that firefighters had extinguished a blaze that broke out at an administrative constructing broken within the raid.

National vitality operator Ukrenergo mentioned Russia additionally focused high-voltage amenities within the south, forcing emergency shutdowns within the Black Sea metropolis of Odesa and close by areas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his individuals to endure their third Easter at warfare.

“There is no night or day when Russian terror does not try to break our lives,” Zelensky wrote in an Easter Sunday message to Ukrainians on social media after the air pressure reported downing 9 missiles and 9 drones in a single day.

“But we defend ourselves, we endure, our spirit does not give up and knows that it is possible to avert death. Life can prevail,” he mentioned.

Need for Western assist

Energy consumption restrictions remained in place in Ukraine’s second metropolis Kharkiv and Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rig following earlier Russian assaults, Ukrenergo mentioned on Sunday.

Moscow has intensified strikes on Ukrainian vitality amenities in latest weeks, saying it’s responding to assaults by Kyiv on Russian border areas.

Kyiv has warned its shares of munitions are working low, urging specifically Washington to finish a political standoff that has frozen a brand new $60 billion assist package deal.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)