Sweden will provide two surveillance aircraft, missiles and armored personnel carriers to Ukraine as part of its latest military aid package. France’s Macron says Ukraine should be able to use western weapons to strike inside Russia.
Sweden to provide two surveillance aircraft to Ukraine as part of its latest military aid package
The Swedish government announced on Wednesday its 16th military aid package to Ukraine worth 13.3 billion kronor (around USD 1.23 billion), the largest package of assistance Sweden has so far donated.
The package will provide Ukraine with a new capability to strengthen its air defense and “will meet Ukraine’s prioritized needs,” the statement reads.
The support package will include Airborne Surveillance and Control aircraft (ASC 890), which will provide Ukraine with a “completely new capability against both airborne and maritime targets.” Ukraine’s capability to identify and engage targets at long range will be strengthened. The package will also include a holistic solution that involves training, technical equipment and methodological support for air surveillance and command and control, the Swedish government said.
Sweden will also donate its entire stock of armored tracked personnel carriers (PBV 302) to support newly formed Ukrainian brigades.
The support package will also include the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (RB 99-AMRAAM), which can be used on aircraft and in ground-based air defense systems, artillery rounds and maintenance of previously donated Swedish materiel.
According to the Swedish government, the 16th military support package will also contain surplus fuel transport vehicles from the Swedish Armed Forces; financial support to capability coalitions; financial support to funds and temporary initiatives to enable swift and large-scale procurement of materiel to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s command and control capability will be further strengthened in the package through a donation of terminals with subscriptions for satellite communications.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonsson earlier said that the country is pausing plans to send Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, saying the focus on the Ukrainian side is on implementing a F-16 fighter jet program.
In August 2023, when President Zelenskyi visited the country, Ukraine began discussing with Sweden the possibility of receiving Gripen jets. According to media reports published in autumn 2023, the Swedish government was preparing to donate Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine. Later Swedish officials said the country should prepare to send Gripens to Ukraine once it has completed its accession to NATO.
Macron says Ukraine should be able to use western weapons to strike inside Russia
French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Ukraine should be allowed to use French weapons against targets inside Russia from which Moscow attacks Ukraine.
Speaking at a news conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Germany, Macron said that France’s position is that “we think we must allow (Ukraine) to neutralize the (Russian) military sites from which the missiles are fired.”
At the news conference, Macron showed a printout of Ukraine’s map highlighting Kharkiv’s proximity to the border and Russia’s cross-border attacks into the region.
Germany’s Scholz echoed Macron’s comments and said that Ukraine was allowed to defend itself as long as it respected the conditions given by the countries that supplied the weapons and international law.
Macron added, however, that “we must not allow them to hit other targets in Russia,” including civilian or other military targets.
Latin America in the focus of Russian propaganda. Ukraine in Flames #617
The Russian government is funding a disinformation campaign in Latin America aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and promoting anti-NATO and anti-American ideas. The key task is to convince citizens of the positive image of Russia and the fact that Russia is pursuing a supposedly successful and necessary neocolonialization policy, fighting US and NATO imperialism, which supposedly threaten the world and Latin America first of all. Watch Ukraine in flames #617 to find out more about Russian propaganda in the Latin American region and how the Kremlin uses the war in Ukraine to influence Latin America for their own benefit.
Guests:
- Oleksiy Otkidach, ADASTRA Fellow, Expert on Latin American issues
- Ivan Fechko, Expert of the Latin American and Caribbean Research Program of the Foreign Policy Council, Ukrainian Prism
- Volodymyr Solovian, Head of the Hybrid Warfare Analytical Group of Ukraine Crisis Media Center
