長らく調整されてきたNSATU:NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine、「NATOによる対ウクライナ安全保障支援・訓練」への日本の協力、いよいよ始動ですね。
このNSATU協力を「日本の戦争参加」と誤解する人が出そうなのであらかじめ解説しておくと、日本にとっては、現代戦、兵站、継戦能力、防衛産業協力、多国間支援調整を学ぶ機会になります(逆にウクライナ以外からはどこからも学べないことばかりです)。
したがって、日本によるNSATUへの協力は、ウクライナの自衛支援と、日本自身の抑止・対処能力の学習を両立させる、安全保障上かなり実利的な一方と言えるでしょう。学べる機会はしっかりとらえる、ということですね。
“Liberated,” they said.
Imagine an entire European town wiped off the map.
This is Bakhmut.
Once home to 70,000. More than two years under the “russkiy mir.”
Today — nothing but ruins.
russia doesn’t liberate cities. It erases them. Don’t pretend you don’t understand this.
Putin wanted to show “strength” but only confirmed his weakness.
Overnight, Russia carried out one of the largest terrorist attacks on Kyiv with around 600 drones, many dozens of ballistic, air-ballistic, and cruise missiles, and a dummy IRBM.
Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, and Zhytomyr regions were also under attack.
As of now, at least two civilian people have been reported killed and many dozens injured. These numbers may grow. Many residential buildings have been damaged.
Unable to achieve any results on the battlefield, Putin turns to terror against civilians.
This strike was probably meant to demonstrate “strength” to the domestic audience, but instead it only confirms Putin’s weakness. Even Russians see that he is a loser.
His “special operation” is not achieving any results. Losses are enormous, but there is not a single achieved goal. Except that there are no safe places in Russia any more, as Ukraine ramps up its special long-range sanctions.
To our allies, I want to say this: it is time to double down, not back down, in supporting Ukraine and increasing pressure on the Russian regime.
We call for additional defense capabilities, including to protect our sky; investment in our defense industry; increased pressure on Russia, including entry ban for Russian combatants, full use of frozen assets; strong political decisions with regard to Ukraine’s EU accession and other steps.
The world has the leverage. It needs to be used right — to show Moscow that such strikes will not bring any results — and force Russia to end this war.