BRUSSELS: Ukraine’s allies announced delivery of new air defences and recommitted to providing it robust, enduring military assistance at a meeting at Nato headquarters on Wednesday, saying Russian missile strikes two days ago only further united them.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, sitting next to his Ukrainian counterpart, opened the gathering of more than 50 countries by condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly missile attacks against “targets with no military purpose” across Ukraine.

“The whole world has just seen yet again the malice and cruelty of Putin’s war of choice, rooted in aggression and waged with deep contempt for the rules of war,” Austin told the gathering, sitting next to Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

“But Russia’s latest assaults have only deepened the determination of the Ukrainian people and further united countries of goodwill from every region on Earth.”

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg called Russia’s missile attacks a sign of weakness, after weeks of Ukrainian gains that have set off rare criticism inside Russia of its war effort.

“The reality is that they’re not able to make progress on the battlefield. Russia is actually losing on the battlefield,” Stoltenberg said.

“Ukraine has the momentum and continues to make significant gains, while Russia is increasingly resorting to horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure.”

Germany announced that the first of four IRIS-T air defence systems had reached Ukraine. German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht called it a “very important support for Ukraine in the fight against missile attacks”. A senior US defence official said Germany’s IRIS-T system was another sign of the commitment to provide air defenses to Ukraine, predating Putin’s latest missile strikes on the country.

“Again this is a horrible set of circumstances, what’s occurred,” the official said. “But the fact that Russia has this capability and is willing to use that capability, including against civilian infrastructure and civilian targets, is not a surprise.”

Eight arrested for Crimean Bridge bombing

Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Wednesday that it had detained five Russians and three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia in connection with the bombing of a vital bridge to Crimea, an attack it said was masterminded by Ukraine.

The FSB said the attack was organised by Ukrainian military intelligence and its director, Kyrylo Budanov — echoing accusations by President Vladimir Putin over what he has called a “terrorist attack” against critical civilian infrastructure.

“The organiser of the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge was the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, its head Kyrylo Budanov, its employees and agents,” said the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2022