Ukraine is currently in talks with the German government to acquire modern, Western-made tanks, such as the Leopard 2. “We have reason to hope that a decision will be made to deliver the Leopard 2 from Germany directly to Ukraine,” Makeyev told newspapers from the Funke media group on Saturday. “We need those tanks.” He added that “it was time to stop talking about not wanting to provoke Russia. What else will happen? How many Buchas, Mariupols or Iziums – places of rape and mass graves – should there be?” Germany has “shown leadership” with the delivery of the IRIS-T air defense system, the diplomat said. “And we expect that leadership role in other weapons systems. These include main battle tanks and armored vehicles.” Kyiv has repeatedly requested modern tanks as it seeks to recapture territory in the south and east of the country. Since Russia’s invasion in February, Germany has sent Ukraine 30 decommissioned Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, 10 Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers and three Mars multiple rocket launchers. Berlin also engaged in circular exchanges with third states to supply arms indirectly to Ukraine. But it has stopped supplying Western-made tanks directly. Makeaev officially became his country’s ambassador to Germany last week. He succeeded Andriy Melnyk, who became known for his unusually sharp criticism of the German government.
Is Germany helping or hindering Ukraine?
To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Saturday, November 5:
Moscow and Kyiv exchange heavy artillery fire to the south and east — military reports
Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged heavy artillery fire in southern and eastern Ukraine, according to military reports. Ukrainian authorities said Kiev forces destroyed Russian positions in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. The Russian Defense Ministry said “Ukrainian attacks” were repelled in the two areas, as well as in the southern Kherson region. Reports were of hundreds of dead on each side. The dpa news agency said it could not independently verify the reports.
Scheduled blackouts in Kyiv and 7 regions — national network operator
Ukraine’s national grid operator Ukrenergo said it would intensify blackouts in Kyiv and seven regions. He said the blackout was in response to an increase in electricity consumption. “Temporary controlled restrictions on all categories of consumers are necessary to reduce the load on networks, support the sustainable balancing of the energy system and avoid repeated accidents,” Ukrenergo said, also calling on Ukrainians to save energy, especially in the morning and the evening. Ukraine’s power grid has been targeted by Russian raids in recent weeks, prompting energy providers to resort to planned blackouts to allow infrastructure to be repaired.
Iran admits it sent drones to Russia
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdolahian, admitted for the first time that his country supplied Russia with drones. However, he said the transfer took place before Moscow invaded Ukraine and denied that Tehran continued to supply drones to Moscow. Ukraine says Russia has deployed Iranian “kamikaze” drones to bomb Kyiv and other cities – a charge Moscow denies. “This fuss made by some Western countries that Iran provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine – the missile part is completely wrong,” Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. “The drone part is real and we provided Russia with a small number of drones months before the war in Ukraine,” he said. Until now, Iranian officials have denied such missions. Amirabdollahian claimed that Iran was unaware of its use of drones in Ukraine. He said Tehran remains committed to ending the conflict. “If (Ukraine) has documents that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, it should provide them to us,” he said. “If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue.” Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard vaguely boasted that it provided drones to the world’s top powers. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also praised the drones’ effectiveness and mocked the West’s handshake over their danger. During state-sponsored protests to commemorate the 1979 US Embassy takeover on Friday, crowds mingled placards with the drones in a triangle shape as a sign of national pride. Meanwhile, Ukraine warned Iran that “the consequences of complicity” with Moscow would be “greater than the benefit” of Russian support after Tehran admitted for the first time that it had sent drones to Russia. “Tehran must realize that the consequences of complicity in the crimes of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine will be much greater than the benefit of supporting Russia,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.
Zelensky says Ukraine “holds positions” in Donbass
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the heaviest fighting in the country is currently centered on the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region. “We are holding the positions,” Zelensky said, despite Russia mobilizing more than 300,000 reservists for its invasion. Moscow has already lost thousands of troops in the region, he said in a video speech overnight. The Ukrainian president also said he sees no willingness on Moscow’s part to negotiate an end to the war against his country. Russia sends tens or hundreds of thousands of people to fight. but those who want to negotiate would not let people die in the “meat machine”, Zelensky said. Once again, he emphasized that Ukraine will fight until it fully restores its original state borders.
Russia likely to struggle to provide training for conscripts — UK MoD
Russia is likely to struggle to provide military training for its current mobilization and its annual autumn term, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence briefing. According to the ministry, newly mobilized conscripts likely have little or no training. “Experienced officers and trainers have been deployed to fight in Ukraine and some have likely been killed in the conflict,” the update read. Russian forces are conducting training in Belarus due to a lack of training personnel, ammunition and facilities in Russia, the ministry added.
More from DW’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant in the Zaporizhzhia region is now running on backup generators after the bombing cut off power. National nuclear authorities believe the Kremlin intends to connect the plant to Russia’s grid. dh/nm (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)
