9 months ago
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Shalanda Young has said time is running out for Congress to approve aid for Ukraine
President Joe Biden’s top budget official stressed that there is no avenue to help Ukraine aside from Congress approving additional funding, as negotiations among US lawmakers remain stalled.
Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said that while the Pentagon has some limited authority to help Kyiv, without new funding from Capitol Hill, “that is not going to get big tranches of equipment into Ukraine.”
Yes, Kyiv might have a little time from other donors to make sure they can keep their war footing, keep the civil service, but what happens in the [European Union], in other Nato allies, if the US pulls out their support? I’m very concerned that it’s not just the United States’ resources that are necessary for Kyiv to stop Putin. It is: What message does that send to the rest of the world? And what will their decisions be if they see the United States not step up to the plate?”
Russia hit Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time during its invasion, a senior Kyiv official said, corroborating an earlier assertion by the White House. Grant Shapps, the British secretary of state for defence, said that “we’ll make sure North Korea pays a high price for supporting Russia”.
Russian air defence units downed missiles and drones in a series of night-time attacks over the Crimea peninsula and the western part of the Black Sea, Russia’s defence ministry said early on Saturday. There was no report on the incident from the Ukrainian military, which does not consistently disclose its actions in Crimea.
The government of Nepal has banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for employment after 10 young men were killed and dozens more reported missing while fighting, predominately in the Russian military. More than 200 Nepali soldiers are believed to have enlisted in the Russian army since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Nepal’s foreign ministry has said.
A British defence intelligence update on Ukraine noted that “over the last week, ground combat has continued to be characterised by either a static frontline or very gradual, local Russian advances in key sectors”.
Russian officials in the southern border city of Belgorod offered to evacuate residents, after waves of fatal Ukrainian attacks. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov’s offer came a day after overnight shelling wounded at least two people and knocked out glass from high-rise buildings.
Ukraine released images of what it said was a Russian Kinzhal ballistic missile, which it claimed earlier in the week to have downed using the US Patriot anti-aircraft system. The Guardian was not able to verify the claim.
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