Biden pledges $3b to Ukraine in largest military aid package yet

Bloomberg

US President Joe Biden announced a $2.98 billion weapons and equipment package for Ukraine on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the biggest tranche of American security assistance to date. The announcement came as Ukraine celebrates the anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The White House said the latest package will allow Ukraine to purchase air-defense and artillery systems, as well as munitions, anti-drone systems and radars, over the long term.
“I know this independence day is bittersweet for many Ukrainians as thousands have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced from their homes, and so many others have fallen victim to Russian atrocities and attacks,” Biden said in a statement. “But six months of relentless attacks have only strengthened Ukrainians’ pride in themselves, in their country, and in their thirty-one years of independence.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz marked Ukraine’s Independence Day with a pledge to stand with the government in Kyiv for as long as it needs support.
“We will continue to supply weapons ranging from self-propelled howitzers to air-defense systems, month after month,” Scholz said in a video message published on Twitter. “We continue to train Ukrainian troops so they can use Europe’s most up-to-date military equipment,” he added. “And we will support Ukraine financially and help to rebuild destroyed towns and villages.”
Also, the outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his third unannounced visit to Kyiv since the war began on Wednesday, as US diplomats have warned that Russia is preparing to intensify attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and government facilities.
On his third unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital since the invasion began Feb. 24, Johnson pledged £54 million ($64 million) worth of drones and munitions for Ukraine.
Johnson, who is due to leave office on Sept. 6, told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Ukraine “can and will win the war” sparked by Russia’s invasion, and pledged the UK’s support for his country will be unwavering and long-term. The premier also received the Order of Liberty, Ukraine’s highest aware that can be bestowed on foreign nationals, the prime minister’s office said.
Meanwhile, Russia continued shelling Kharkiv in the country’s north and Zaporizhzhia in the south overnight, according to RBC-Ukraine, while Zelenskiy warned that “brutal strikes” are possible on Independence Day. The Ukrainian army said Russian forces struck towns and made several unsuccessful assaults in the eastern Donetsk region. The UK Defence Ministry said the Kremlin’s Donbas offensive is making little progress and that Russia is suffering from shortages of munitions, vehicles and personnel.
But Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Kremlin forces have deliberately slowed their offensive to limit civilian casualties. Russia has slowed the pace of its offensive in Ukraine intentionally in order to minimize civilian casualties, Shoigu said at a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Russia’s attempt to quickly capture Kyiv at the outset of the invasion failed in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance, and the Kremlin has regrouped its forces in the country’s east and south. Ukraine says long-range weapons it received from allies, including US-made multiple rocket systems, have allowed it to strike ammunition storage and logistics centers deeper in Russian-occupied territory, helping turn the tide of the war.
Meanwhile, police detained the former mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roizman, on charges of “discrediting” Russia’s army, state-run Tass news service reported. Roizman, who’s already been fined three times for criticizing the invasion under the country’s “fake news” law, was one of the last prominent opposition activists remaining in Russia not in detention as part of a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on dissent.