The United States is sending $ 100 million in military aid to Ukraine
The United States has announced the supply of $ 100 million in military equipment to Ukraine, apart from what will come from the $ 40 billion approved by Congress on Thursday. (May 19)
AP
Russia must be financially responsible for the destruction it inflicted during its invasion, according to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Speaking on the third anniversary of his inauguration, Zelensky said in an address Friday night that Russia must be made to pay for every home, school, hospital and business it destroys.
Zelensky called on the allies to seize Russian property under their jurisdiction and use it to create a fund for Ukrainian victims of the war.
“That would be fair,” Zelenski said. “Russia will feel the true weight of every missile, every bomb, every projectile that has fired at us.
A Russian coup on Friday destroyed a Ukrainian cultural center in Lozova, injuring seven people. Zelensky called the attack “absolutely evil.”
“What is in the minds of people who choose such goals? Absolute evil, absolute stupidity, “he said.
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Latest developments:
►President Joe Biden signed a $ 40 billion aid bill to Ukraine after Congress approved the legislation earlier this week.
►Delegates from the United States and four other countries staged a walk on Saturday as a Russian representative began his opening remarks at a meeting of trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group.
►Russia must cut off natural gas supplies to Finland on Saturday after Finns refused to pay for it in rubles, according to Finnish state-owned company Gasum. The company’s executives said the move would not disturb customers in the summer.
► President Joe Biden is expected to sign legislation providing $ 40 billion in additional aid to Ukraine while traveling in Asia, according to Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser.
►The group of the seven leading economies agreed on Friday to provide $ 19.8 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to protect limited finances from hampering its ability to defend itself against the Russian invasion.
Trafficking in human beings, often in the form of commercial exploitation of women and children for sex, is one of the largely hidden tragedies of the Russian war in Ukraine, authorities and experts told USA TODAY.
The scale of the problem is unknown, in part because of the clandestine nature of sexual trafficking and the unprecedented flow of people from Ukraine to Asia and the United States. But there has been a sharp rise in all forms of trafficking in women and girls in the region – as well as boys – including forced sex and labor, prostitution, pornography and other forms of sexual exploitation, authorities and experts said.
“Collectively, the international community is beginning to see indications that traffickers are persecuting or trying to persecute Ukrainians and others fleeing Russia’s war against Ukraine,” said Carrie Johnstone, a senior official with the State Department for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings. exclusive interview. Read more here.
– Josh Mayer
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Ukraine’s ambassador to neighboring Poland says his nation is grateful for the welcome of Poles to millions of Ukrainian refugees, but hopes the European Union will soon grant billions of euros to Poland so that aid does not come “at the expense of Poles.”
Ambassador Andriy Deshtitsa said that although there had been no real social tensions in the three months since Ukrainians began moving to Poland in search of security, he was worried they might emerge in the future, given the large amount of Polish aid. .
The government has provided Ukrainians with free medical care, education and other social services, while more than 80% of them are housed in private Polish homes.
– Associated Press
President Joe Biden signed a $ 40 billion aid bill to Ukraine after Congress approved the legislation earlier in the week.
The Senate cleared the measure on Thursday to avoid a funding gap. The final withdrawal of $ 100 million in pre-approved funding came Thursday, according to Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser.
The package includes more than $ 20 billion for the Pentagon for weapons, intelligence and training, and nearly $ 14 billion for the State Department for Food Aid, Refugee Aid and other diplomatic programs.
Biden is on a trip to Asia, where he met with South Korean President Yun Suk Yel and toured a Samsung facility.
– Sean Rosman, Bart Jansen and Merdy Nzanga
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Delegates from the United States and four other countries staged a walk Saturday as a Russian official began his opening remarks at a meeting of trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in the Thai capital, Bangkok, officials said.
A Japanese official said Japanese Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda and his counterparts from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada had left the meeting to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The employee speaks on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
A US official in Bangkok confirmed the departure, but did not provide further details. He asked not to be identified. Talking about the incident has diplomatic sensitivity, as the case was held in closed session. US Trade Representative Catherine Ty represented Washington at the meeting.
– Associated Press
Russian authorities said on Friday that their forces had “completely liberated” the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the latest focus of Ukrainian forces, in what would be its biggest victory so far in the war with Ukraine.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia already has full control over Mariupol.
The last 531 Ukrainian fighters surrendered to Russian forces on Friday, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. A correspondent for Russian state television told Telegram that Denis Prokopenko, commander of the Azov Regiment, was among those who surrendered on Friday.
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Prokopenko said earlier on Friday that Mariupol defenders had been ordered to “stop defending the city” in order to “save the lives and health of servicemen from the garrison”.
Russia’s allegations have not been confirmed by Ukrainian authorities.
For weeks, Russian forces have been trying to take over Severodonetsk, a key site in the Donbass that is outside the territory the separatists have held for several years. They stepped up attacks there and in Lisichansk on Friday.
Luhansk Governor Sergei Haidai said on Friday that Russian forces already control 90% of the Severodonetsk region.
Three adults were killed in an attack on a school on Friday, where about 200 people, including many children, took refuge in Severodonetsk, Haidai told the Telegram. In another attack, 60 houses were destroyed and 12 people were killed, Hadai said. But Hadai also said that “the Russians suffered casualties and withdrew.”
Haidai told the Telegram that Russian forces “just want to destroy the city.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his country has faced cyber attacks from the West amid the invasion of Ukraine, but has successfully repulsed them.
Speaking to members of Russia’s Security Council on Friday, Putin noted that “the challenges in this area have become even more urgent, serious and far-reaching.”
He accused that “open aggression was unleashed against Russia, a war was waged in the information space.”
Putin added that “cyber-aggression against us, as well as the attack on Russia through sanctions in general, have failed.”
He ordered the employees to “improve and improve the mechanisms for ensuring information security in critical industrial sites that are directly related to the defense capability of our country and the stable development of the economic and social sphere.”
Contribution: Associated Press
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