Ukraine’s Missiles — and Western Sanctions — Hit Russian Targets, Sinking Warship Capable of Carrying 10 Main Battle Tanks

Ukraine destroyed a Russian landing ship in a series of orange and yellow fireball explosions that went viral Tuesday. The overnight sinking of a ship capable of carrying 10 main battle tanks came as Ukraine claims to have shot down five Russian Sukhoi fighter bombers since Friday. The losses prompted the defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, to brief President Putin, the Kremlin said Tuesday.Mr. Shoigu said Russian troops had finally taken Maryinka, a bitterly contested town in Donetsk region. Ukraine insisted its troops still hold parts of the town. Kyiv says the fight over the village and neighboring city of Avdiivka has raised Russia’s toll of dead and wounded soldiers to 353,950 in the 22 months since Mr. Putin launched his full-fledged attack on Ukraine.Ukraine’s losses are believed to be half that. Its officials hint that a game changer in recent days has been the use of Western-supplied arms: American Patriot missiles and British- and French-supplied Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles.After three Russian war jets were shot down on Friday, the Ukrainian air force spokesman, Yuriy Ihnat, posted on Facebook a skull and crossbones emoji, three airplanes, and a photo of a Patriot air defense system.He wrote: “That’s exactly what gives us confidence and good mood.” Analysts believe that Ukrainian pilots are using Patriots as air-to-air missiles, firing from up to 100 miles away from Russian jets.Celebrating the shootdowns, President Zelensky posted Monday on Telegram: “This Christmas sets the right mood for the whole next year.” Referring to Tuesday’s sinking, he joked on Telegram that his air force had added the landing ship to Russia’s “underwater” fleet.Separately, Ukraine’s armed forces chief, General Zaluzhnyi, gave a rare press conference Tuesday. Citing an array of new battlefield technologies he predicted that the war in 2024 will look different than in 2023.Over the last six months, Ukraine’s land offensive made little progress. Aid stalled in the American Congress and in Europe. Yet aid is coming from individual nations. On Friday, Japan said it would provide Patriots to Ukraine from its own supplies.Also on Friday, the Dutch government said it is preparing to hand over 18 U.S.-designed F-16 jet fighters to Ukraine. The Netherlands recently sent five F-16s to a training facility for Ukrainian pilots in Romania, and Bulgaria has approved use of its air space. Belgium, Denmark, and Norway also promise to give Ukraine F-16s in 2024.Mr. Putin faces setbacks as he seeks to maintain a winning image to voters in advance of Russia’s mid-March presidential election. Only two weeks ago, the strongman proclaimed at his annual nationally televised press conference: “Odessa is a Russian city. Everyone knows that.” Now, Western-supplied arms are shrinking the distance between Ukraine-controlled Odessa and Crimea.After losing a dozen ships last fall to Ukrainian missiles fired from the Black Sea coast, Russia’s navy retreated from its historic headquarters at Sevastopol to Feodosia, a Crimean port 100 miles closer to mainland Russia. Tuesday morning, a cruise missile fired from Ukraine found the 367-feet long Novocherkassk at dock. After explosions lit up the night sky of Feodosia, Ukrainian bloggers posted a daytime photograph of what they claimed was the ship’s remains: a charred, elongated clump of debris emerging from the water.As the war approaches its second anniversary, Mr. Putin faces new challenges on the diplomatic and economic front. On Tuesday, a key parliamentary committee in Turkey approved Sweden’s application to join NATO. The vote enjoyed the support of members of the government coalition and of the main opposition. Final approval by the full parliament now depends on American congressional approval of the sale of 40 F-16s to Turkey.“There is progress on the F-16 issue.” Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akçapar told the Turkish parliamentary committee during Tuesday’s debate.“Our president,” Mr. Akçapar, said, “confirmed with the U.S. president in very clear terms that [Biden] will undertake efforts on the F-16s in Congress after Sweden becomes a member.” Hungary has tied its approval of Sweden joining NATO to Turkey’s approval. To go around Hungary on EU aid, European countries are drawing up a $22 billion aid plan for Ukraine that would not need Hungary’s approval, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Facing tightening American sanctions, foreign companies this week declared force majeure and frozen participation in what was to have been Russia’s largest foreign investment — a $25 billion Arctic LNG-2. According to Moscow’s Kommersant newspaper, Japan’s Mitsui and Company, France’s TotalEnergies, China’s CNOOC, and China National Petroleum Corp are stopping work on the seven-year-old project.It was a few months short of shipping its first gas. Also on Tuesday, South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries said it has not started making hulls and equipment for 10 Arctic LNG carriers contracted with Russian Zvezda shipyard.In Beijing on Tuesday, a Chinese foreign ministry representative, Mao Ning, told reporters that economic cooperation between China and Russia is in the mutual interest of both countries and “should not be interfered with or restricted by any third party.” Referring to U.S. pressure, she added: “China has always opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction without the basis of international law.”Against this backdrop, the New York Times reported Saturday that Mr. Putin is keeping open the option of negotiating a Korean-style armistice for his ill-fated war in Ukraine. Under one formula, troops would be frozen in place, with Russia occupying all Ukrainian territory it now controls, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.In an interview recorded last week, Germany’s ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, poured cold water on the idea of peace talks. Referring to Mr. Putin’s nationally televised press conference, he told RND news network: “Putin has just reaffirmed his war goals and is not willing to negotiate at all.”

Ukraine’s Missiles — and Western Sanctions — Hit Russian Targets, Sinking Warship Capable of Carrying 10 Main Battle Tanks

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