Ukraine city hit, 14 dead

A Russian strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv left 14 civilians dead and 60 other people wounded on Wednesday, officials said.

“This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defense equipment and if the world’s determination to resist Russian terror had been sufficient,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

Chernigiv Mayor Oleksandr Lomako told state media that the strike had ripped into a “very populated area” of the city.

“The terror must be stopped. Air and missile defense is what Ukraine needs right now,” the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, said on social media.

A promised aid from the United States remains stalled in the legislature due to Republican opposition and a new bill bundling it with fresh funding for Israel’s military is still hanging and may even cost US House Speaker Mike Johnson his job with his partymates plotting his ouster.

Johnson, who leads a razor-thin Republican majority, announced late Monday that his chamber would vote this week on separate aid bills for Ukraine, Israel, and other national security items, after stalling for months over pressure from his party’s right-wing.

Several members of that faction quickly voiced outrage at the $95-billion plan and raised the prospect of triggering a vote on removing Johnson from his position — as was done to his predecessor.

Far-right firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of Donald Trump who opposes any compromise with Democrats, said Monday that Johnson’s days were numbered.

“He’s definitely not going to be speaker next Congress if we’re lucky enough to have the majority,” the Georgia representative told reporters.

Her Republican colleague Thomas Massie said Tuesday that he had decided to co-sponsor Greene’s resolution.

“He should pre-announce his resignation... so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” Massie said on X.

When asked about the fresh revolt, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday: “I am not resigning.”

Without the near-total backing of his party, Johnson would be left to rely on Democratic votes to pass the aid bills.