‘Nothing Will Cure These Sick Men’ – War in Ukraine Update for March 13

Overview:

• Copenhagen approves funding for self-propelled artillery systems and ammo
• Biden administration announces $300M in emergency aid to Kyiv
• Zelensky promises revenge for Russian attacks on his hometown
• Moscow picks up territory around Bakhmut
• Russian troops continue to advance around Donesk city
• Guided bombs injure children along border region

Denmark provides Kyiv with more than $300 million to pay for artillery systems and ammo

The Danish Ministry of Defense on Tuesday said it is sending Ukraine about $336 million in military assistance, funding that will pay for the Caesar artillery system and shells and other weapons.

“I hope that more countries will follow suit and contribute to the early implementation of capabilities,” said Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

The announcement follows a roughly $250 million tranche of military aid about a month ago. Denmark is one of the top donors to Kyiv’s defense effort against the Russian full-scale invasion when it comes to funding per capita.   

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has also said that his country is aiming to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine soon.

US releases emergency aid for Ukraine; awaits Congress’ approval on $61 billion package

While preparing to host Poland’s president and prime minister on Tuesday, the White House announced an emergency $300 million aid package for Kyiv, a sum that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called “nowhere near enough.”

A statement from the Pentagon said the package includes long-range HIMARS rocket systems, anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, artillery shells, and small arms ammunition.

“This ammunition will keep Ukraine’s guns firing for a period, but only a short period,” Sullivan told a press conference. “It is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs and it will not prevent Ukraine from running out of ammunition in the weeks to come.”

Other Topics of Interest

Ukraine Must Join the Joint Expeditionary Force, and the UK Should Lead the Way

The UK has been a leader in helping Ukraine. But as inertia sets in and with Western support wavering, efforts must be redoubled. The JEF is a natural bridge to NATO.

Meanwhile, AFP reported, coinciding with the state visit from Poland, the US State Department announced it was approving nearly $3.5 billion in arms sales to Warsaw, including AGM-158B-2 air-to-surface missiles and AIM-120C-8 air-to-air missiles.

Airstrikes kill three, wound dozens in Kryvyi Rih

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak, reported on social media that Russian missile strikes killed at least three people and wounded another 44 people, including children.

AFP reported that the strike came hours after pro-Ukrainian militias crossed into nearby Russian-controlled territory and claimed to take over a village.

The Russian projectiles slammed into a nine-story apartment building in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, reducing it to rubble.

“We will inflict losses on the Russian state in response – quite rightly,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. “They in the Kremlin must get used to the fact that terror does not go unpunished for them. Nothing will cure these sick men of their evil, but they will feel the losses.”

Russian drones also attacked an agricultural facility in the region on Tuesday, but there were no injuries.

Operations: Bakhmut

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian forces recently marginally advanced southwest of Bakhmut on Tuesday.

Geolocated footage indicates that Russian forces recently advanced north of Klishchiivka (southwest of Bakhmut) as fighting continued east of Chasiv Yar and in Ivanivske; and southwest of Bakhmut near Andriivka, Stupochky, and Pivnichne.

Over the past week, there have been contradictory reports on whether Russian troops have taken control of most or all of the settlement of Ivanivske.

Operations: Donetsk city

Russian forces also made some incremental gains around the city of Donetsk on Tuesday, the ISW reported, inching forward along an important highway.

Geolocated footage posted on Monday seems to indicate that Russian units recently moved forward on the H-15 highway, which runs south of Maryinka (west of Donetsk City), while images published Tuesday show that the Kremlin’s troops have also recently advanced on the northeastern outskirts of Novomykhailivka (southwest of Donetsk City).

The ISW added that another Russian military blogger claimed that invading forces also advanced near the Marinska Dam (west of Donetsk City and east of Heorhiivka).

Family in residential neighborhood comes under Russian bomb attack

“An airstrike on [the] Velyka Pysarivka [neighborhood], Sumy district, was carried out at 09:20 today, on 12 March. An enemy aircraft dropped guided aerial bombs on the residential area of the settlement. Two strikes were recorded,” read a post on Telegram by the Sumy region’s military administration.

According to Ukrainskaya Pravda, early reports indicate that a family’s home was struck by the explosions, injuring two children, 6 and 10. All together, five homes were blasted in the Russian attack.