Norway Donates 22 Howitzers to Ukraine |
International Military - Norway, a co-founder of NATO, has donated 22 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. The weapons were given to help Kiev resist the Russian invasion .
The Nordic country has joined the ranks of opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has previously threatened to respond to a NATO country supplying weapons to Kiev.
Read Also: Zelensky Says Millions People Will Starve Due to Russian Blockade of Ukrainian Ports
In a statement released on Wednesday, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said; "Developments in the war in Ukraine now indicate that it is also necessary to contribute heavier artillery and weapons systems."
The move comes days after Putin and a number of propagandists in Russian state media criticized the United States and Britain for their support for Ukraine. Gram's statement revealed that the Norwegian Army donated the M109 artillery gun after recently replacing their own artillery with a new addition from South Korea.
Read Also: Russia Claims To Have Destroyed a Ukrainian Mercenary Base in The City of Zhytomyr
Gram said the supplies were a "substantial contribution" to Ukraine's war effort against Russia. “The Norwegian government has been waiting to publicly announce the donation for security reasons.
Future donations may not be announced or commented on," Gram said in a statement. Howitzers are long-range weapons usually set in batteries to attack targets from a distance.
The Netherlands and Germany have also provided Ukraine with supplies of howitzers, as the global impetus for Russia's invasion step increases. Norway shares a land border with Russia and this arms donation is likely to anger Putin.
Read Also: President Volodymyr Zelensky Hangs East Ukraine's Fate In Battle of Severodonetsk City
In an interview on Russian state TV this weekend, Putin said: "In general, all this fuss about the supply of additional weapons, in my opinion, has only one goal of dragging the armed conflict as long as possible." "If (long-range missiles) are supplied "We will draw the right conclusions from this and use our weapons, which we have sufficient, to attack targets that we have not hit," he said.