Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russia carries out new missile strikes

* The secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council said the United States and NATO were seeking to drag out the fighting, the TASS news agency reported. QUOTES "We must form such a tank force, such a freedom force that after it strikes, tyranny will never again rise up" - Zelenskiy. "We categorically disagree with this, and in Moscow, everything that the alliance and the capitals I mentioned are doing is seen as direct involvement in the conflict.

Russian warplanes carried out new missile strikes on Ukraine during the morning rush hour on Thursday, the day after Kyiv secured Western pledges of dozens of modern battlefield tanks to try to push back the Russian invasion. MISSILE AND DRONE ATTACKS

* At least one person was killed in the latest Russian missile strikes, and critical infrastructure was damaged in the Black Sea region of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said. * Ukrainian air defences shot down all the more than 15 Russian missiles fired towards the capital during the latest round of air strikes, an air force spokesperson said.

* The missile strikes followed an overnight drone attack in which Ukrainian forces destroyed 24 drones, including 15 over Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said. WEAPONRY

* The United States and Germany have announced plans to arm Ukraine with modern battle tanks in its fight against Russia, which denounced the decisions as an "extremely dangerous" step. * The key to providing tanks was speed and sufficient numbers, President Zelenskiy said. He's also spoken to NATO and called for supplies of long-range missiles and aircraft to add to the commitment of tanks by the United States and Germany.

* Germany's decision paves the way for other countries such as Poland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway to supply some of their Leopard tanks to Ukraine. * It may take many months for the powerful U.S. tanks that President Biden agreed to send to Ukraine to reach their destination, the White House said.

* Poland's army will receive its first Abrams tanks from the United States in spring, the defence minister said. * Germany's defence minister said on Thursday he would start talks with the defence industry as early as next week to speed up arms procurement and ramp up ammunitions supplies.

* Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the promised delivery of Western tanks was evidence of direct and growing U.S. and European involvement in the conflict. * The secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council said the United States and NATO were seeking to drag out the fighting, the TASS news agency reported.

QUOTES "We must form such a tank force, such a freedom force that after it strikes, tyranny will never again rise up" - Zelenskiy.

"We categorically disagree with this, and in Moscow, everything that the alliance and the capitals I mentioned are doing is seen as direct involvement in the conflict. We see that this is growing," Peskov said of NATO and Western countries providing Ukraine with weapons. 

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