The Biden administration Friday said that its next tranche of military support for Ukraine would include 50 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles.
The heavily armed troop transports can provide better support for infantry units than the aging M113 personnel carriers Washington had sent previously — but 100 of those Vietnam-era vehicles will be included in the package as well.Putin has said that he is not preparing for a second round of mobilization.John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, said the tracked Bradleys were expected to give Ukraine an advantage in the rural eastern terrain where fighting is heaviest.
The American support package will be supplemented by 40 personnel carriers and a Patriot missile battery supplied by Germany.Putin’s ceasefire order for the Orthodox Christmas holidayThe 36-hour peace has been panned as a ploy by Kyiv and the West, who suspect that Russia is using the time to reinforce its positions.
Russia and Ukraine are gearing up for the long haul, with fighting expected to go on into the spring and summer.But no explosions rang out in the Ukrainian capital Friday — as they have near daily for weeks with air defense systems knocking suicide drones from the sky.Kyiv has not clarified whether its forces would abide by the ceasefire. The Russian Ministry of Defense issued reports of sporadic shelling and fighting, but those reports could not be confirmed.
United Nations’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN personnel on the ground in Ukraine “have not seen reports of intense or major fighting,” but added that UN staffers were “not everywhere.”
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