Ukraine, Russia trade strikes as US votes on aid package
UKRAINE and Russia accused each other of deadly strikes on civilians yesterday, as US lawmakers voted on a $61 billion aid package Kyiv hopes will boost its flagging war effort.
The US House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday to provide key aid to Ukraine and Israel, and bolster Taiwan.
The bills, passed in a rare session, were approved in quick succession by overwhelming bipartisan votes
“I believe we will push on and pass it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said before the vote, slated to take place in the US House of Representatives yesterday.
Russian strikes killed three people in central and northeast Ukraine, local officials said, while cross-border Ukrainian attacks left three dead in Russia’s western Belgorod region, according to the local governor.
A source in Ukraine’s defence sector told AFP Kyiv targeted eight Russian regions overnight in a “large-scale” drone strike, which was aimed at
“energy infrastructure that feeds Russia’s military-industrial complex”.
“At least three electrical substations and a fuel storage base were hit and caught fire,” the source said, calling it a “joint operation” of Ukraine’s SBU security service, army, and military intelligence.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted 50 Ukrainian drones overnight, some of them hundreds of kilometres from the border, including near the capital Moscow.
Video on social media purportedly showed a large blaze burning at a fuel depot in Russia’s western Smolensk region, an attack that the governor confirmed was caused by the drones.
Kyiv has ramped up strikes on Russian oil and gas facilities in recent months, part of what it calls “fair” retaliation on infrastructure used to
fuel Russia’s war.
Ukrainian drones killed two people in Russia’s Belgorod border region, its governor said yesterday, while shelling later in the day fatally wounded a pregnant woman.
Ukraine has in recent months pleaded for more air defences from its Western allies as it struggles to fend off a surge in deadly attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Zelensky on Friday urged Nato to quickly deliver more aid to help his struggling forces, which have ceded ground to Russia in recent months.
“This year, we can’t wait for decisions to be made,” he told Nato defence ministers.
“We need seven more Patriots or similar air defence systems – and it’s a minimum number. They can save many lives and really change the situation.” |