As Zelensky Visits Kherson, World Bank Says Ukraine Needs $411 Billion to Rebuild

The United States said on Tuesday that it would send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine far more quickly than expected, by later this year. And on Thursday, Finland’s defense minister said the country had approved sending three more Leopard tanks to Kyiv and was looking into its request for Hornet fighter jets.

Slovakia’s Defense Ministry said that the first four of 13 Soviet-designed fighter jets promised to Ukraine had been delivered. That delivery is not expected to significantly change battlefield dynamics. The country’s defense minister, Jaroslav Nad, said the Slovak jets were in need of repair. They will most likely be used for spare parts for Ukraine’s Soviet-era jets. Kyiv’s troops are struggling with Soviet-era equipment, which needs frequent maintenance.

Mr. Zelensky’s trips to frontline areas came days after Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, visited the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since one of Moscow’s most brutal campaigns. Mr. Putin’s trip is believed to be the closest the Russian leader has come to the front line since the invasion.

The Ukrainian leader said on Thursday he had visited Posad-Pokrovske, a farming village that was largely destroyed during the fight for the city of Kherson and that is about 20 miles away. Though Ukraine recaptured the city in November in one of its most significant victories of the war, Moscow still controls territory in the wider Kherson Province.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/world/europe/ukraine-kherson-world-bank-rebuild.html