During his visit to Madrid, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov asked his Spanish counterpart for help fighting the Russian invasion. The minister explained that although Western allies have provided support in arms and military training, they need more help to fight the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Reznikov explained that the number one priority is anti-aircraft defense and requested US-made F-16 aircraft, which the Spanish air force possesses. He also asked for more ammunition, including 150- and 105-caliber artillery. Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles promised to send six Leopard tanks to Ukraine and is considering sending four more.
Ukraine is expected to launch a major military offensive in the spring against invading Russian troops. Preparations for this offensive have been revealed by a series of secret US documents that have appeared on social networks.
One of these documents, marked secret and recently seen by AFP, indicated that 89% of Ukrainian medium- and high-range air defenses consisted of Soviet-era SA-10 and SA-11 systems, which could soon run out of ammunition. Defense ministers denied claims contained in the leaked documents that there were NATO special troops on the ground in Ukraine and called this information flatly false.