Ukraine receives more arms shipments, and Russia is pushing its largest military pieces to the sea

With the expected date of the outbreak of war approaching, Ukraine receives more arms shipments, and Russia is pushing its largest military pieces to the sea

Over the past hours, Ukraine has received a number of arms shipments from several allied countries, with signs of war accelerating amid deep concern in Western circles about a Russian invasion of Ukraine at any moment.

Ukraine has received from Lithuania a shipment of US Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, while Estonia will send Javelin anti-armor missiles, and Latvia will also send Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

The three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, had announced earlier that they would provide Ukraine with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems, and equipment necessary to enhance Ukraine's military defense capabilities in the event of a Russian attack.

The Czech Republic also plans to donate to Ukraine 152 mm artillery pieces with 4 thousand 152 mm shells.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Kiev announced the arrival of two planes of military aid to Kiev, as part of US support to strengthen Ukraine's defenses.

The "Stinger" anti-aircraft missiles at low altitude are among the latest American-made anti-aircraft, anti-helicopter and anti-drone missiles.

It is a light, shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile that has the ability to strike an air target in any part of it.

Earlier, the United States delivered boats to the Ukrainian Navy equipped with "Stinger" missile systems.

Washington had provided the Afghan mujahideen in the last century with this type of missile and they were able to destroy about 270 Russian planes and helicopters with "Stinger" missiles.

Since 2014, Washington has provided more than $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and has sent 8 new air shipments of weapons worth $200 million to Kiev, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, lethal munitions, Humvees and radar systems.

And a bipartisan group of US senators last month promised more supplies, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, small arms and boats.

As for Britain, it provided Ukraine with 2,000 NLAW short-range anti-tank missiles, and sent British specialists to provide training, along with Saxon armored vehicles.

Dissemination of information in order to avoid war

The US National Security Adviser said that Washington's disclosure of intelligence about a possible invasion was aimed at avoiding war, not igniting it.

In an interview with CNN, Sullivan stressed the readiness of the United States and its allies to respond unified and decisively in the event of this invasion.

He noted that the world should be prepared to see Russia create a pretext to attack Ukraine.

The United States announced the withdrawal of all American personnel from the mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Donetsk, where the mission is monitoring the ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.

Australia and Canada have also begun evacuating their embassies in the Ukrainian capital.

The staff were moved to temporary offices in the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, on the border with Poland.

Separatists: The situation without Bass is very hot

The leader of the separatists in Donetsk said that Ukraine is mobilizing its forces and moving its equipment, which requires full preparedness on the part of the separatists, and described the situation in Donbass as very hot and that it has reached a boiling point.

Russia also expressed concern over the decision of some countries to withdraw their staff from the OSCE observer mission operating in the Donbass region.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington is using the OSCE observer mission as a tool of provocation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry considered that the activities of the observer mission are required today more than at any time, in light of what it described as an artificial escalation.

Moscow called on the presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to take a firm position, to prevent the attempt to exploit the observer mission for provocative purposes, as it put it.

Russian exercises in the Black Sea

In another development, AJ news correspondent reported that the Russian warships began the active phase of their maneuvers in the Black Sea by pushing their largest warships.

The Kilo submarine, which is considered one of the most dangerous non-nuclear submarines in the world, crossed the Dardanelles Strait to join more than 30 Russian naval units, including destroyers, frigates, minesweepers and landing ships, to carry out large-scale exercises for the Russian Navy.

During the exercises, the ships, warplanes and coastal forces of the Russian fleet will carry out artillery and missile shooting operations at sea, coastal and air targets.

Russian and Belarusian military exercises

In the vicinity of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, Russian and Belarusian forces conducted joint military exercises in the fields of "Brest" and "Gomel", as part of the ongoing maneuvers between the two countries, titled "Union Resilience".

AJ news correspondent stated that the exercises, which will continue until the 20th of this month, simulate fighting battles against an attack by an imaginary enemy, in which units of special forces and landing forces participate.

Also participating in the maneuvers - for the first time - are units of the Russian forces of the Eastern Military District.

With the continuation of signs of war, military officials say that Ukraine has significantly strengthened its armed forces with the help of its allies, and armed its army in particular with American and British anti-tank weapons and Turkish drones.

The United States and its allies say Russia could invade Ukraine at any moment, and Russia, which has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's border, denies having plans to do so.

“Don't blame Russia and fill your tanks.” Why has the energy crisis in Europe worsened?

As soon as Europe emerged from a stifling global energy crisis, until the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, which directly threatens its imports of Russian gas. While officials within the Union believe that what makes European energy security fragile are other matters that are not limited to the competition of the West and Moscow.

The European energy crisis is witnessing an unprecedented exacerbation, exacerbated by the escalating tension between the West and Russia on the borders of the Eastern continent. While the roots of this crisis are global, dating back to the fall of last year, when the world's major manufacturers launched a fierce competition over who would achieve economic take-off first, after more than two years of stagnation due to the epidemic pandemic.

In recent weeks, as the conflict rages over Ukraine, reports have come in of a new rise in the European energy bill. European energy security depends, to a large extent, on gas imports. The tension between Moscow and the West opens the door to the possibility of supply disruptions and disruptions, if Russia considers pulling the trigger for gas as a weapon in the conflict.

On the other hand, European officials believe that the European blame should not always fall on Russia, since the major part of the energy crisis is due to the weakness of the strategic reserves of the European Union, with its governments reluctance to build sufficient reservoirs to secure this reserve.

Crisis, war and epidemic

Since the fall of last year, Europe has been experiencing a stifling energy crisis. This is due to the global competition that was launched at the time about the supply of gas, in order to achieve an economic take-off after nearly two years of stagnation caused by the epidemic pandemic. At that time, gas prices skyrocketed, reaching about 500% in the old continent.

While the repercussions of this severe shortage of gas stocks in Europe, in contrast to the rise in its prices, forced the increase in demand for it in the global market, forcing some fertilizer producers in Europe to reduce production. This rise is expected to continue, threatening to increase costs for farmers and possibly increase global food price inflation, with the onset of a difficult winter.

As soon as Europe emerged from these repercussions, tension erupted between it and Russia, which relies heavily on it to obtain its supplies of this vital material. As "six member states depend completely on Russian gas to meet their needs of this article, including three countries that depend on it for more than a quarter of their energy needs," according to the European Commission. Russia exports an estimated 230 million cubic meters of gas to Europe every day, about a third of which passes westward through Ukraine.

Germany has raised the value of Russian gas imports to be estimated today at 55% of the total gas imports, which represents 26.7% of the total energy consumed in Germany. It also contributes to heating every two homes. Berlin is counting on doubling the cheap natural gas supplies it receives from Russia via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that connects the two countries via the Baltic Sea.

Reliance may become in vain, especially after US President Joe Biden threatened to abort the new Russian-European gas pipeline project. Biden said, "If Russia invades again, there will be no Nord Stream 2 and we will finish it!" Nord Stream 2 will double the volume of direct gas exports from Russia to Germany to 110 billion cubic meters annually.

According to reports specialized in the energy economy, the tension between Europe and Russia will exacerbate the European energy crisis, and will increase the energy bill for families by an estimated 54% in the coming months.

"Don't blame Russia, fill your tanks!"

On the other hand, European Union energy officials consider that the biggest threat to the energy security of the Union is not Russia or the global crisis, but rather the continent's failure to provide strategic gas reserves. In this regard, the CEO of the Italian gas giant SNAM, Marco Alvera, said that "the Europeans should stop blaming Russia for the gas crisis, and start buying cheap gas every summer to avoid competing for it with Asia every winter."

Speaking to Politico , Alvira added that Europe should "build reservoirs that can accommodate 40 million cubic meters that need to be provided as a strategic reserve for the continent. These reservoirs can be filled in the summer when the price of gas decreases to avoid competition for it in the winter." The spokesman explained that part of the infrastructure is present, but the problem is in the European economy, as distributors refuse to store for fear of low prices due to the appearance of one of the Corona mutant.

On the other hand, Elvira sheds light on another problem, which is the drop in domestic gas production, which amounted to 15%, "with the discontinuation of dependence on the North Sea fields after Brexit and the closure of the Netherlands' fields." In the face of this, European countries suffer in securing their needs of this material due to their refusal to provide an infrastructure for storing strategic reserves without succumbing to the fluctuations of the global market.