US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, right, within the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.
Oliver Contreras | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Friday to a $45 billion aid package for Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his residents that Russia could launch attacks over Christmas and urged them to heed air raid alarms.
The help measure passed by the Democratic-controlled house, a part of a $1.66 trillion government funding bill that won Senate approval a day earlier, will now go to U.S. President Joe Biden for signing into law.
In a tweet thanking Congress and leaders of each parties, Zelenskyy said it was “crucial” that Americans are “side-by-side” with Ukrainians “on this struggle.”
The brand new military and economic assistance would come atop some $50 billion in aid to Ukraine this yr in addition to Western sanctions on Russia that now include a cap on Russian oil prices. Russia responded to the cap on Friday by threatening to chop oil output by 5% to 7% early next yr by halting sales to countries that support the measure.
Zelenskyy returned from Washington — his first trip outside of Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24 — with the pledge by the US of a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery to bolster his hard-pressed air defenses. He long has sought Patriot missiles to assist counter three months of Russian missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s power grid.
Tens of millions have been left without electricity, heat and water as temperatures plunge below freezing. U.S. officials say, nevertheless, that the only Patriot battery that Biden promised Zelenskyy during their White House meeting on Wednesday won’t change the course of the war.
In his regular nightly video address, Zelenskyy warned Ukrainians that Russia could launch more strikes over Christmas, urging them to “listen to air raid alarms, help each other and look out for each other.”
“With the vacation season fast approaching, the Russian terrorists could again step up their activities,” he said. “They don’t have any regard for Christian values or any values for that matter.”
Switching to Russian, Zelenskyy warned that “residents of Russia must clearly understand that terror never goes and not using a response.” He didn’t elaborate. He said that he had met his top commanders to review the military situation and that his government is “preparing for various scenarios of motion by the terrorist state. And we’ll respond.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, center, arrives to talk during a joint meeting of Congress on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Washington and its allies have been unwilling to produce Kyiv with modern battle tanks and long-range missiles called ATACMS that might reach far behind the frontlines and into Russia itself. Kyiv and the Biden administration are wary that retaining U.S. congressional support for aid could develop into more complicated when Republicans take a slim majority within the House next yr: some rightwing Republicans oppose aid and other lawmakers have called for tighter oversight.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a visit on Friday to the town of Tula, known for arms manufacturing, where he was shown telling defense industry chiefs to spice up the output of weapons for the front.
In Bakhmut, an eastern Ukrainian city that has develop into the goal of Russian attempts to advance in recent weeks in fighting that has killed hundreds of soldiers, Valerii Deriukha, 55, was one among the few residents who haven’t fled. He was chopping twigs for firewood as artillery explosions rang out. “You see together with your own eyes what life is like here. What life? It’s war,” he said. Two stories had been blasted off a constructing nearby. “How is life? You see for yourself.”
DTEK, the biggest private investor in Ukraine’s power sector, said on the Telegram messaging app that Russian shelling on Friday halted operations at one among its power plants, killed one worker and injured one other. The firm, which owns eight thermal power stations, didn’t discover the plant that was hit.
Reported reinforcements
Ukraine has driven Russian forces from the areas around its capital Kyiv and the second biggest city Kharkiv. Moscow is now focused on holding areas its forces occupy in southern and eastern Ukraine — around a fifth of the country. Ukrainian forces repelled attacks on a minimum of 17 eastern settlements, the overall staff said early on Friday. It added that Kremlin forces had launched 12 missile and air strikes, including on civilian targets, away from the front lines in eastern and southeastern Ukraine.
The exiled mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol within the south said more Russian troops had been brought into the town and were strengthening fortifications, with residents now only capable of leave on foot. A automotive bomb exploded in the town earlier within the day, Ivan Fedorov added in his online media briefing. Russian forces shelled the southern Kherson region 61 times in 24 hours, half of those inside Kherson city, killing one person, Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said. Russia withdrew from that city last month.
Within the Russia-held portion of neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, the Russia-installed governor, Yevgeny Balitsky, said shelling of the nuclear power plant there had “almost stopped” but Russian troops wouldn’t leave.
Ukraine and Russia have accused one another of risking nuclear disaster in fighting near the plant, Europe’s largest, and the United Nations has called for a protected zone there. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has called for a protected zone across the plant to scale back the danger of nuclear disaster, said talks with the 2 sides were making progress on the problem. Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.