Macron pledges Kyiv Mirage planes to protect it from Russian airstrikes during the conflict in Ukraine

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that his nation will provide its combat-capable Mirage aircraft to Ukraine in order to support its defense against Russian aggression. He made his remarks following the D-Day invasion commemoration in France with foreign leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

Macron informed the national broadcaster in France that he will make an announcement on Friday regarding a new partnership with Ukraine and the sale of French-built combat aircraft, the Mirage 2005, which will enable Ukraine to “defend its territory and airspace” from Russian aggression.

Macron reaffirmed that Ukraine should be permitted to utilize weaponry supplied by its Western friends to target Russian military sites and “neutralize the points from which (the country) is being attacked,” adding that France will also begin training Ukrainian pilots.

Macron pledges Kyiv Mirage planes — While Ukrainian men fight to repel a Russian attack near the eastern city of Kharkiv in what has grown to be Europe’s largest conflict since World War II, Zelenskyy was also in France to request additional assistance from the West.

While Ukrainian men fight to repel a Russian attack near the eastern city of Kharkiv in what has grown to be Europe’s largest conflict since World War II, Zelenskyy was also in France to request additional assistance from the West. Ukraine was promised F-16 jets by the Netherlands and Denmark last year, while the US is already training Ukrainian pilots at a station in Arizona. Macron did not say when the French fighter planes would show there.

Along with President Joe Biden and other European leaders who have backed Kyiv’s efforts in the war, which is currently in its third year, Zelenskyy and his spouse, Olena, attended the 80th anniversary ceremonies in Normandy. On Friday, Zelenskyy will meet with representatives of France in Paris.

While Kyiv will welcome the promise of French aircraft, the country is currently battling to thwart a recent Russian push in eastern regions, including the border regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk, which aims to take advantage of Kyiv’s shortages of troops and ammunition along the front line, which is approximately 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long.

Ukraine has presented the conflict as a fight between Russian oppression and Western democratic freedom. Russia claims it is protecting itself from the NATO military alliance’s threatening eastward expansion.

In a continuous effort by Kyiv to take down the Kremlin’s war machine, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil refinery and a gasoline storage in Russian border regions over night, according to officials in the affected areas on Thursday.

NATO partners agreed to support Ukraine’s efforts by allowing it to use the weaponry they supply to Kyiv for limited strikes within Russia.

The move might make it more difficult for Moscow to establish a new front in the northeast. Following the May 10 offensive against Kharkiv, in which Moscow’s troops successfully diverted Ukrainian forces by taking advantage of weaknesses, Ukrainian leaders feared a new assault was impending.

With some restrictions, Washington has given Ukraine authority to fire US-supplied weaponry at targets inside of Russia.

They cannot target airfields or aircraft that fire missiles at Ukraine, especially at residential areas; instead, they can only be employed in Russian border territories east of Ukraine where the Kremlin’s forces gather and launch strikes, according to Ukrainian legislator Yehor Cherniev, who spoke with The Associated Press.

According to him, the northeastern onslaught in the Kharkiv region has “stopped” due to Ukraine.

The deputy head of the National Security, Defense, and Intelligence Committee of parliament, Cherniev, said, “now we can destroy their troops on the territory of Russia near the border of Kharkiv,” despite the possibility that Russian forces would still attempt to advance.

There has never been a prohibition on Ukrainian military shooting down enemy aircraft, according to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, “even if those aircraft are not necessarily in Ukrainian airspace.” When a Russian plane threatens, they can shoot it down. They have, too. Since the start of the conflict, they have.”

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, issued a warning on Wednesday, saying that his nation might arm other nations with long-range weapons so they could attack targets in the West. In response, Biden pointed out the restrictions put in place by Washington.

“We’re not discussing arming (Ukraine) with weapons to attack Moscow or the Kremlin,” Biden stated to ABC News.

“Just across the border where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians,” stated Biden, Ukraine has been given permission to employ the weaponry.

Biden referred to Putin as “a dictator” and expressed his “concernement” about his actions. Additionally, he promised that “we will not walk away” from Ukraine’s security and for Russia to pose a greater threat to Europe.

Western arguments failed to convince leaders in Moscow. Putin’s remarks, according to Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, were “a fairly significant shift in our foreign policy.”

On his messaging app channel, Medvedev posted, “Let the U.S. and its allies feel the impact of direct use of Russian weapons by others.”

According to Medvedev, Putin purposefully withheld the identity of the recipients of Russian weaponry, saying that they may be given to anyone who views the United States and its allies as adversaries.

The deployment of Western weaponry against Russia “can’t be left without consequences, and those consequences will certainly follow,” stated Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, on Thursday.

Putin asserted that Moscow may take “asymmetrical” actions elsewhere in the world since deploying some weapons supplied by the West entails military personnel of other nations commanding the missiles and choosing targets.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg underlined that the alliance had no intention of sending troops to Ukraine, while the US military stated that it has no control over the missiles or targets that it supplies to Ukraine.

“Our focus is on strengthening the existing framework for our assistance, creating an institutionalized framework to support Ukraine, and securing a long-term financial commitment to support Ukraine until its needs are met,” stated Stoltenberg in Finland.

According to Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev, a drone strike occurred overnight at the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the Rostov area of Russia, resulting in a fire. A second attack forced firefighters to leave for a short while, he said.

It took some time to determine the full degree of the facility’s destruction. Golubev declared that no one had been injured.

According to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, a drone struck an oil facility in Belgorod, another border region, during night. It set one of the oil reservoirs on fire and resulted in an explosion. No one was hurt, according to Gladkov, and the fire was promptly put out.

It took some time for the reports to be confirmed. Drone assaults from Ukraine, which are getting more and more sophisticated, have extended deep into Russia, targeting refineries, fuel storage, and oil terminals. The attacks deprive Moscow of income, and the sanctions imposed by the West have increased the strain on Russia’s energy industry.

In the meantime, major power disruptions have been brought on by Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. It seems that the intention is to lower public morale and disrupt military production facilities.

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