Macron and Tusk are set to discuss sending a peacekeeping force to Ukraine. A Russian missile strike on a medical clinic in Zaporizhzhia kills nine. Ukraine’s artillery troops set a world record for the longest range ever achieved by an artillery cannon in actual combat while using Poland’s Krab self-propelled howitzer.
Macron, Tusk to discuss sending peacekeeping force to Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron has an idea of sending European troops for a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine that would avert a new Russian invasion. Macron sees Poland as a key ally in the project and is set to discuss it with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk during his visit to Poland this week, according to a media report in the Rzeczpospolita Polish newspaper cited by Ukraine’s European Pravda.
The meeting between Macron and Tusk in Warsaw on Thursday will follow talks that the French President held with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Paris on Saturday as world leaders gathered there for the ceremonial reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral.
The Rzeczpospolita newspaper also alleged that Macron had raised the idea with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer when they met in November, and had later discussed it with representatives of Nordic, Baltic countries and Poland at a meeting on November 27.
Élie Tenenbaum, of the French Institute of International Relations think tank (IFRI), told Rzeczpospolita the peacekeeping mission would need up to five brigades or a total of 40,000 soldiers. Poland would be likely to command one brigade because of its military capabilities and location.
Camille Grand, former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment, told Rzeczpospolita that if the peacekeeping mission gets approval, the more countries are in on this, the stronger the deterring effect will be. The U.S. has to have at least a symbolic role in it, he said. Grand added that the Netherlands and post-election Germany could also join the initiative.
Other Polish media earlier reported that during his planned visit to Warsaw, Macron will brief the Prime Minister of Poland on talks he held with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Paris on Saturday. The meeting lasted 35 minutes.
Speaking to journalists earlier this week, Zelenskyi emphasized Ukraine’s need for efficient security guarantees. Trump said he was “formulating a concept” of how to end the war.
Russian missile strike on medical clinic in Zaporizhzhia kills nine
A Russian missile struck a private medical clinic in the center of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, killing nine people and injuring at least 21 others. Russia most likely used an Iskander ballistic missile in the attack, head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said its rescuers were able to pull out two women from under the rubble seven hours after the building collapsed in the attack. The women called rescue services to say they were buried by debris. They were taken to hospital.
A search and rescue operation was underway as of mid-Wednesday.
Ukraine’s artillery troops set world record for longest range ever achieved by artillery cannon in actual combat while using Poland’s Krab howitzers
Ukraine’s artillery troops set a world record for the longest range ever achieved by an artillery cannon in actual combat while using Poland’s Krab self-propelled howitzer.
The Krab supposedly hit a target 70 kilometers away, Ukraine’s Defense Express said, citing a report on Polish news site Defence24 that reviews integration of the Krab howitzer with Vulcano guided long-range projectiles. Polish Krabs in Ukraine are likely already using Vulcano munitions, the report reads.
The news site did not specify when or where it occurred.
It is the best result ever achieved in a real combat situation, not on a training ground, Defense Express added.
The AHS Krab has been produced in Poland by Huta Stalowa Wola since 2008. The howitzer is based on the same chassis as the Korean K9 Thunder and is fitted with the turret of the British AS90 (Braveheart) 155-mm self-propelled gun.
The Krab is fitted with a 52-caliber gun. It has a length of 12m, width of 3.6m, height of 3.0m, and a weight of 48 tons. It has a crew of five.
An automated loading system enables the gun to fire with a burst rate of three rounds in fewer than ten seconds, an intense rate of six rounds a minute for three minutes, and a sustained rate of two rounds a minute. The vehicle can carry a total of 40 shells.
The gun can fire projectiles with a range from 5.0km to more than 50km, like the Excalibur. It can run at a maximum road speed of 67km/h with a maximum cruising range of 400km.