Live blog: Ukraine thanks US on news aid package as Biden signs bill

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

1729 GMT –– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would do its best to make up for half a year lost to US congressional debate as he thanked President Joe Biden and Americans for approving a major US aid package for Kiev.

The Ukrainian leader expressed gratitude in his nightly video address after Biden signed into law the $61 billion aid package for Kiev, concluding a political deadlock in Congress that lasted six months.

"We completed this half-year path. Regardless of what anyone says, we are gaining the support we need to continue protecting lives from Russian attacks," he said.

"Now we will do everything possible to make up for the six months that have passed in debate, in doubts," he said.

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1633 GMT –– Ukraine drone attack strikes Russian steel factory: Kiev source

Ukrainian drones struck and damaged a major Russian steel factory in the Lipetsk region during an overnight attack on Wednesday, a Kiev intelligence source told Reuters news agency.

The source said the attack had partially destroyed an "oxygen station" at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, something it said would have a long-term impact on the company's work.

NLMK, which owns the plant, declined to comment. A regional industry source in Russia said the facility continued to work normally.

Lipetsk's regional governor said earlier that a Ukrainian drone had come down in an industrial zone overnight, but did not say if there had been damage.

1630 GMT –– US quietly shipped long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine

The United States in recent weeks secretly shipped long-range missiles to Ukraine for use in its battle to fight off Russian invaders, and Ukraine last week used them for the first time, a US official said.

The missiles were contained in a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine that US President Joe Biden approved on March 12, said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official would not say how many of the missiles were sent.

The missiles were used for the first time in the early hours of April 17, launched against a Russian airfield in Crimea that was about 165 km (103 miles) from the Ukrainian front lines, the official said.

Whether to send the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) with a range up to 300 km was a subject of debate within the Biden administration for months. Mid-range ATACMS were supplied last September.

1540 GMT –– EU's proposed sanctions on Russia to target oil tankers, ships moving North Korean equipment

The European Commission is expected to propose sanctions on ships delivering North Korean military equipment to Russia as well as tankers that flout the G7 price cap on Russian oil, European Union sources said.

The Commission is finalising its proposal for a 14th package of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

A document showed that 40 companies are expected to be added to its list of sanctioned entities. These include Russian companies procuring equipment for the military as well as third country companies that have sold Russia electronics, semiconductors and chips that have military uses.

1519 GMT –– Kiev says Orthodox cleric gave Moscow Ukraine army positions

Kiev's SBU security service said it suspected a high-ranking cleric and head of east Ukraine's main monastery of having revealed army positions to Russian forces.

The SBU said it had "served a notice of suspicion to the Metropolitan of the Sviatogirsk Lavra who 'tipped off'" Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region to Russian forces.

Metropolitan Arseniy is listed as the head of the medieval monastery. The SBU said Metropolitan Arseniy was suspected of "disseminating information about the movement or location of armed forces" –– a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison.

He had "handed over to the occupiers the location of defence forces checkpoints in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region", it said in its statement.

It also said the cleric had promoted "pro-Kremlin narratives about the war in Ukraine even before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion".

1424 GMT –– Russia, Ukraine to exchange displaced children after rare talks

Russia and Ukraine have agreed in a Qatari-brokered deal to exchange almost 50 children displaced by Moscow's invasion, the Kremlin's children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova announced in Doha.

Moscow has been accused of forcibly taking Ukrainian children into Russian territory during its full-scale offensive, with Lvova-Belova wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges related to those allegations.

"For the first time in a face-to-face format, we held talks with the Ukrainian side. Twenty-nine children are due to go to Ukraine and 19 to Russia," Lvova-Belova announced.

She gave no details on why the children were in Russian hands or where they had come from.

Ukraine believes Russia has illegally taken more than 19,000 of its children since the start of the 2022 invasion, of which fewer than 400 have been returned.

Moscow denies that charge, saying that it has transferred children for their safety away from fighting zones.

1210 GMT –– Ukraine receives new EU funds, sees three more tranches in 2024

Ukraine received a new $1.6 billion tranche of financial support from the European Union and hopes to get another 10 billion euros later this year, officials said.

Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said the EU, which has provided Ukraine with 31 billion euros, had become the biggest donor of budget financing to Ukraine since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022.

The United States, which has approved billions of dollars in a new aid package to Ukraine, is also an important donor.

"International support is a key to ensure macroeconomic stability and build a foundation for economic growth," Marchenko said.

Ukraine faces a $37 billion budget deficit this year and relies heavily on financial aid from its Western partners to be able to finance its social and humanitarian spending.

0935 GMT — Russia will expand Ukraine 'buffer zone' if Kiev gets longer range missiles, says Kremlin

The Kremlin said that Russia would further expand its "buffer zone" inside Ukraine if Kiev takes delivery of longer-range ATACM missiles from the United States that allow it to strike deeper inside Russia.

The United States is preparing a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, the first to be sourced from the yet to be signed Ukraine-Israel bill, two US officials told Reuters.

When asked about the possibility that the package would include longer-range ATACM missiles, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's stance on the subject - that it will be forced to expand what it calls a buffer zone in Ukraine if longer-range missiles are delivered - had not changed.

0554 GMT — Russia energy sites set ablaze after 'drone attacks'

Fire has broken out at energy facilities in Russia's Smolensk region after a Ukraine-launched drone attack, officials said.

"Our region is again under attack by Ukrainian UAVs," Vasily Anokhin, the governor of the Smolensk region in Russia's west, said on the Telegram messaging app.

"As a result of the enemy attack on civilian fuel and energy facilities, fires broke out in the Smolensk and Yartsevo districts," Anokhin said on the Telegram messaging app.

Separately, Igor Artamonov, the governor of the Lipetsk region in Russia's southwest, said that a drone there fell on an industrial zone. He said on Telegram that there were no injuries, but nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution measure.

"The object was isolated, there was no threat of an attack on residential area," Artamonov said.

0158 GMT — Zelenskyy thanks US Senate for approving Ukraine aid

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked the US Senate for approving a $61 billion aid package for his country.

"I thank Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for their strong leadership in advancing this bipartisan legislation, as well as all US Senators on both sides of the aisle who voted in favour of it," he posted on social media minutes after the bill passed.

0145 GMT — US House passes $61B arms package for Ukraine

The US Senate has passed a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine, with President Joe Biden vowing that new arms supplies would be swiftly delivered to the warzone as Russia made gains on the battlefield.

"I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week," said Biden, who added that the bill's passage proved America stands "resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression."

The $61 billion for Ukraine comes as the war-torn country desperately needs new firepower and as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up his attacks.

Ukrainian soldiers have struggled as Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and gained significant territory.

2343 GMT — Russia's Lavrov says West is attempting to destabilise situation in South Caucasus

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the West, in pursuing its goal of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia, is seeking to destabilise the situation in the South Caucasus.

Speaking to the Foreign Ministry board, Lavrov said the West is seeking to undermine Russia's relations with the countries of the region, destroying regional formats of economic and security cooperation, the ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov also pledged to persist in developing mutually respectful and beneficial cooperation with all the states of the region, highlighting Russia's common "centuries-old history, geographical proximity and close human contacts" with them.

For our live updates from Tuesday, April 23, click here.