US president says military shipment will enable Ukrainian forces ‘to more precisely strike key targets’; most of key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk under Russian control

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For more insight into why Ukraine has been pleading for arms like the missiles just promised by the US, I recommend our correspondent Luke Harding’s report from Mykolaiv. He spoke there to Ukrainian forces under constant fire, desperate for heavier weaponry. Roman Kostenko, a Ukrainian MP and special forces commander said this:

“Victory now depends on our international friends,” he said. “We have plenty of kalashnikovs and machine guns. If we get enough heavy arms Russia will not be able to go any further.” He stressed: “The west can change the outcome of this war.”