President Volodymyr Zelensky
says Ukraine needs long range missiles
following a barrage of attacks by Russia.
And a Ukrainian
diplomat says that Western
allies are going to be sending more
than 300 tanks to Ukraine.
Let's get
you updated
on all of this
with CNN senior
international correspondent
Fred Pleitgen.
He's live for us in Kramatorsk. Fred.
Ukraine says that it is
in a race against time
to get these additional weapons.
Bring us up to speed.
What's the latest
Well,
certainly from the vantage point here,
it seems as
though they possibly
are in a race against time.
If you look at the area around
where I am in the east of the country,
where certainly
right now Boris
The bulk of the heavy
fighting is going on.
And we have had some rocket attacks
by the Russians in villages
not far from where I am right now.
And, of course,
you have that main battlefront
right now in the town of Bakhmut
And when the Ukrainians say
they're in a race against time,
they obviously meet
that they need
those main battle
tanks from the west as fast as possible.
And if you look at the battles
that are going on here in the east, tanks
play a major role,
both in their classic role
of conducting attacks, for instance,
but also
when they're being used as artillery
but when it comes to fighting
around cities.
We visited a tank unit here
in one of the hardest hit areas
by the war around Bakhmut.
Here's what we saw
Grabbing like a
dragster, the
crew from the 28th mechanized brigade
warm up their Soviet
era t 60 44 battle suburban
some of the have problems
with ammunition were running low.
The commander tells me.
And that's the only problem we have
we get enough spare parts.
Our commanders work
all the time
to sustain the tank and repair it.
That commander who goes by the callsign
David raises
the 40 year old beast
towards the front line
like a steam engine train.
A lot of Ukraine's
main battle tanks are as old as this one.
That's why
the military says they urgently need
those new Western main battle tanks.
They say around three to 400
to try and turn the tide in this war.
The problem,
Ukraine is running out of Soviet
era tanks
and is having increasing
trouble replacing those lost in battle
or needing repair.
The 28th helped
liberate their son in the south
and then was sent here.
It's already been
a long war for this unit.
Ukrainian soldiers on the front around
Mahmoud are elated.
Western nations are sending
modern battle tanks
and one A to Abrams from the U.S..
German made
leopard twos and British Challenger tanks
but the Ukrainians
are also masters
at using the old Soviet tanks.
They have now to best effect
three firing, reloading
taking aim and quickly
still shooting again.
The tank engineer
who only gave his name is
Maxim
says the soldiers
from the 28th
could operate these vehicles blindfolded.
Let's just lay down.
If we fire from a covered position,
we lose this device, he says.
It's old and analog,
but pretty efficient, very precise.
Ukraine's forces say
their tanks have been extremely important
and effective here in Bakhmut.
Taking on the mercenaries
of Russia's Wagner
private military company,
who often use convicts as cannon fodder
to try and storm
Ukrainian positions
with almost no fire support
The tank
commander says they're constantly
working to stop Wagner's
advances here,
but just fight against them.
If we stop,
they will come closer
and we will lose our houses and families.
We stand here to allow people
to peacefully live in their homes.
But Ukraine's army is under growing
pressure around Bakhmut
as the Russians pour more armor
into this area.
The promised Western tanks
probably won't arrive
fast enough
to make a difference in this battle.
But these soldiers hope
they will turn the tide of the war
so you can see, guys, that
the Ukrainians obviously
saying they need a lot of those Western
main battle tanks.
And they do think
that that will make a big difference
on the battlefield,
especially if they want to take the fight
to the Russians
and win back
some of those territories
that the Russians
got at the beginning of this war.
The other thing, of course,
as you guys mentioned,
is those longer
distance missiles, those attackers
that the Ukrainians also want to have.
They see the main reason for that
is that after
they got the multiple rocket launchers
from the US,
they were able to hit
some supply lines from the Russians,
take some of those out.
But they say now
the Russians have simply move
those supply lines
further away from the front line.
So the Ukrainians say they need longer
distance capabilities
to be able to hit those as well,
of course.
We know that the Biden administration
so far
is not willing to give those missiles
just yet.
The leopard tanks
will probably get there from the Germans
and from there.
Our European
allies and partners will get there
in relatively short order,
probably in time
to help them in the spring and summer.
The American tanks,
the Abrams will take a little bit
more time.
It will take many months before they
can get on the ground
Joining us now is CNN military analyst
Colonel Cedric Leighton.
So Colonel Leighton, German
leopard tanks could be there
relatively soon.
As you heard
there, though, from John Kirby,
the Abrams tanks it could take a while.
Are they going to get there too late?
Well, it really depends, Pamela.
And, you know,
when you look at the difference,
first of all,
they've talked about 321 tanks
according to the Ukrainian ambassador
to France, being sent to Ukraine.
So that's a large number.
That is basically
what the Ukrainians asked for.
They asked for around 300 to 400 tanks
So they're getting what they need.
But let's take a look
at the leopard tank.
So this is the German leopard tank,
very capable tank.
It has a 120 millimeter
cannon that's associated with it,
just like the Abrams does.
Good armor
can be used
in a lot of different environments,
very maneuverable.
And it has a lot of firepower
along with it.
But it has less required training time
than the Abrams tank does
and the Abrams tank that you see
right there.
That is one that is extremely powerful.
It is basically the top of the line
armored vehicle that the U.S.
uses for
these kinds of purposes,
highly maneuverable.
But it does require a lot of maintenance
and a huge logistics tail in this case.
And an adviser to President
Zelensky says Ukraine is negotiating
with Western allies
to access long range
missiles and aircrafts.
How would that help change the war?
And do you see this dynamic continue
to play out where they get something
and they say, okay,
well, here's
what's next on our wish list?
Yeah.
So there are a lot of different things
that they could potentially get.
So you take a look at the attack
system, for example.
This is a system
that has about 190 mile range,
and it can really affect
a longer range area.
So it's considered a short range system,
but its long range enough that it would,
for example, go after Crimean targets.
So if the Ukrainians want to go
after Crimea,
this is one thing that they would do
there. Now, in the fighter jet world.
This is an F-16
courtesy of the Danish Air Force
in this particular case.
But what it can do is it can move around
very maneuverable.
It is a, you know,
the top of the line aircraft,
although it's almost 50 years old.
First flight was about 49 years ago.
These aircraft are really the mainstay
or have been until recently
the mainstay of the U.S. Air Force.
And there it's a real big part
of the data inventory.
And that's something
that they would require
a lot of training on.
Anywhere, depending
on the experience of the pilot,
anywhere from three months.
That's a real bare minimum
highly unlikely
all the way to a year or more.
So with this training pipeline
for all of these systems
is going to be a very long one.
A very tough one.
Kim Jong un
sister is weighing in on all of this
and she is denouncing
the Western decision
to send takes to Ukraine.
She says the people of North Korea,
North Korea, will always stand with
Russia, quote, always
standing in the same trench as Russia.
Where do you see the war going next?
So when it comes to the war,
that's
going to be a really interesting thing.
So when you look at what you have here
on the main map,
you have the possibility of the Russians
coming in not only from the east,
but also potentially from the south
going into these directions.
That's what they want to do.
So if you go to a more detailed
map of the eastern front, for example,
the big fighting
that you have around
solider around bombed,
all those areas here become
that becomes a symbol for what
the Russians want to do now.
By itself
is not very strategically significant.
However, it is on our main highway
that goes this way.
And if they can use that highway,
that could potentially be a gateway
for the Russians
to move
forward into
Ukrainian controlled territory.
But they are going to, in essence,
try to work around a stalemate.
The Ukrainians are trying to run
the clock out
They're trying to make it
so that they can fight the Russians
and at the very least, keep them here.
But their real goal
is to eliminate the Russians
from this part
right here, the so-called land bridge
That is where the Ukrainians want to move
in the opposite direction
and bring the Russians in this way
and to force them out of the country.
All right.
Really interesting
Thank you so much, Colonel
Cedric Leighton, for.