Shocked by the humanitarian crisis following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnieper River a few days ago, NATO countries consoled the Ukraine garnering more support.
On June 8, the NATO-Ukraine Committee met with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, to discuss the dam’s destruction and the devastation it has caused.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the consequences for thousands of people and the environment are dramatic. He also urged NATO partners to provide support quickly.
NATO allies have expressed strong solidarity with Ukraine and many are already providing critical aid, including water filters, pumps, generators and shelter equipment.
NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre, the alliance’s emergency response mechanism, shared a detailed list of Ukraine’s most urgent needs with all alliance members.
Stoltenberg stressed the importance of immediate, mid-term and long-term support for Ukraine, saying this would be a key issue for meetings of NATO defense ministers and the Ukraine Defense Group next week, as well as the Vilnius Summit on July.
Counterattack and the dam
In addition to pledged support, on June 9 the United States made further commitments military aid to Ukraine.
This includes additional Patriot air defense munitions, HAWK air defenses, unpaid Puma aerial vehicles and artillery among others as part of the ongoing package worth more than $40.4 billion to date.
It has been widely reported that Ukrainian forces are testing Russian defenses in southeastern Ukraine ahead of the summer offensive.
Meanwhile, on June 8, the The Pentagon held a press conference where a reporter suggested that Ukraine may have caused the dam’s destruction itself, stating:
“We’ve seen in the past where Ukraine shirks blame and is quick to blame Russia, like that missile that landed in Poland that they said was Russia but turned out to actually be Ukraine by mistake.”
The reporter went on to ask Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder if “there is concern that [Ukraine is] we are not completely transparent with ourselves.”
Ryder emphasized that “Russia invaded Ukraine and tried to eliminate it as a country. So the Ukrainians naturally have the right to defend themselves and we have the right to be able to support them to defend themselves.
“I’m not going to talk about the Ukrainians in terms of their various activities in terms of the things you’re highlighting,” Ryder added.
Read the original at Defence247.gr
