NATO officially asks allies to provide winter equipment to Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg asked allies to provide Kyiv with winter equipment such as clothing, tents and generators so Ukrainian troops can continue to fight the Russian invasion in the cold season.

Reuters reports that average winter temperatures are below freezing for much of the country and it is not uncommon for temperatures to drop to minus 15 degrees Celsius.

"Winter is coming, it will be hard, and therefore we must continue to provide both weapons and ammunition, as well as winter clothing, tents, generators and all the specific equipment needed for winter", Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels at the end of a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"Partly because the size of the Ukrainian military has grown so much, they need more of this kind of winter gear, and NATO is particularly focused on how we can provide tens of thousands of winter uniforms, for example", added Stoltenberg.

On Friday, fast-advancing Ukrainian troops closed in on the main railway supplying Russian forces in the east of the country, after the collapse of a section of Russia's frontline caused the most dramatic change of course since the first weeks of the war.

It was the first such blitzkrieg from both sides for months in a war characterized mainly by frontline battles of attrition since Russia abandoned its assault on the capital, Kyiv, in March.

Stoltenberg asked NATO allies to increase defense production, but also to stockpile their own supplies so they could deliver more weapons to Kyiv. "We are now in close contact with the defense industry, with the capitals ... to make sure that we are ramping up production, that we are restocking. It's also about making sure that we have the weapons, the munitions and the capabilities that we need for our own deterrence and defense", Stoltenberg emphasized.

Translated by: Radu Matei