Day 338: Canada, Poland to Arm Ukraine with Leopard Tanks

Facts

• On Friday, it was announced that Poland is sending 60 modernized battle tanks and 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
• Canada also confirmed it would supply four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after Germany allowed its allies to send the mighty battle tanks from their stock.
• Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev accused the West of being directly involved in Russia's war and warned Berlin's decision to send tanks to Kyiv was "highly dangerous," which could "take the conflict to a new level of confrontation."
• Elsewhere, Ukrainian authorities claimed Russia's missiles and drone strikes on nearly a dozen Ukrainian provinces on Thursday damaged 35 buildings and killed at least 11 people. The attacks, which involved a total of 55 missiles, left an additional 11 residents severely injured.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency said powerful explosions were also reported near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in south Ukraine. However, Russia rejected the claim describing it as a "provocation."
• Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reportedly killed 850 Russian soldiers and destroyed seven enemy tanks, 11 artillery systems, 33 operational-tactical UAVs, and 47 cruise missiles in the last 24 hours.

Sources: CTV, Canada, Tass, Ukrinform (a), Reuters, and Ukrinform (b).

Narratives

• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Irish Times. It is no secret that Ukraine's war effort would have collapsed long back without the West's support. Now that the 11-month-long Western intervention threatens to escalate the Russia-Ukraine conflict into an all-out direct war between NATO and Russia, the West is arming Ukraine to provide political cover for politicians who fear the blame game when they lose the proxy war in Ukraine.
• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by New York Times. Russia's continuous offensive has forced Kyiv to seek as many weapons as the West can send to reclaim every inch of its territory from the invaders. As the next battle phase threatens to witness full-scale tank-and-trench warfare, sending arms to Ukraine is a critical step toward helping the country regain lost ground. Hopefully, the Ukrainian counteroffensive will push Russia to accept a negotiated settlement.
• Cynical narrative, as provided by AntiWar. More weapons packages will make little difference in the outcome of the war. The US has been meddling in Ukraine since the end of the Cold War, and what we're witnessing is a geopolitical ponzi scheme to benefit those aligned with the military-industrial complex. War is a lucrative racket.

Predictions