Ukraine Secures Gripen Deal, Receives New Aid Amidst Russian Attacks

Swedish defence equipment maker Saab has signed a contract to deliver ⁠16 ​Gripen E fighter aircraft to Ukraine in a deal worth about ⁠24.6bn Swedish crowns ($2.54bn).

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on the Telegram messaging ⁠app, said the agreement reached with ​Swedish prime minister Ulf ‌Kristersson involved ‌the purchase of the 16 aircraft and included ‌technical support.

Saab’s timetable differed from that outlined by Zelenskyy, who said deliveries would begin in 2027, while the Swedish defence equipment maker said deliveries were scheduled for 2029-2030.

Ukraine’s top military commander said in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that his forces were preparing for a possible ⁠new Russian attack from the north, but any attempt to advance on Kyiv was unlikely.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, interviewed on TSN Ukrainian television, also said ⁠an attack from ⁠neighbouring Belarus ​was unlikely after weeks of Ukrainian allegations that Moscow was trying to press its ally to play a greater role in the war.

“The ⁠most likely scenario, and this is confirmed by several data sources, is possible offensive action in the north from the territory of Russia, from the ⁠Bryansk region,” Syrskyi said.“This is a realistic option, of course, and we are preparing for ​it.”

Russian glide bombs killed two people and ⁠injured ⁠at least ​15 in the south-eastern Ukrainian ⁠city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday, regional governor ⁠Ivan Fedorov said.

Fedorov, writing ​on ‌the Telegram ‌messaging app, said ‌Russian forces had deployed seven bombs over a 90-minute period in the city, a frequent target ‌of Russian attacks.

Denmark announced ⁠on ​Tuesday a new military donation package ⁠to Ukraine worth about 4.4bn ⁠crowns ($671.8m).

“Around 1.3 ​billion ‌crowns is ‌allocated to ‘the Danish ‌model’, which makes it possible to finance the Ukrainian state’s procurement costs through its ‌own defence industry,” the government said ​in a statement.

“In addition, more funds have been ⁠allocated for long-range artillery ammunition.” It ​is ​Denmark’s 30th ​military support ​package ‌to Ukraine

Police on Tuesday were searching for the suspect behind a parcel bomb that seriously wounded a sanctioned multimillionaire of Ukrainian origin and two others in Monaco.

Officers in Monaco and neighbouring France were hunting for a man in a black fisher’s hat who appeared in surveillance footage after leaving a package in a residential building near the border, authorities said.

The device exploded at around 9pm (1900 GMT) on Monday, leaving a man and a woman seriously wounded and a 13-year-old with lighter injuries, according to the Monegasque authorities.

Monaco public prosecutor Stephane Thibault said as of Tuesday the man had been stabilised, but the woman’s condition remained “life-threatening”.

He said the blast was being investigated as “attempted murder” but was not being considered as a “terrorist” act.

He declined to say who was the presumed target of the blast, but several sources have said it was Ukrainian-born businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, who is a permanent resident of Monaco and has acquired Cypriot nationality.

Yermolaiev is a sanctioned multimillionaire with a reportedly long list of enemies in his homeland.

Kyiv alleges the 58-year-old maintained an alcohol business in Russia-annexed Crimea – paying taxes to Moscow even after it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Kenya’s cabinet on Tuesday approved the country’s accession to two international anti-mercenary treaties, a move aimed at curbing the recruitment of citizens into foreign conflicts and combating human trafficking.

Kenya is among several African countries whose citizens have reportedly been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army to fight in Ukraine after being lured with promises of jobs abroad.

The foreign affairs ministry officially estimates that 291 Kenyans have been victims of Russia’s “irregular military recruitment”, including 19 dead and 32 missing.