Biden promises to provide Ukraine with new military aid ‘soon’

Joe Biden has told Volodymyr Zelensky he will “act quickly” to send Ukraine new military aid after US lawmakers passed a $61 billion aid package.

The House of Representatives approved the bill on Saturday after months of political deadlock in the House.

Biden promised “significant” support for Kiev – including more air defense – if senators approve the bill on Tuesday as expected.

The assurances come as Russian attacks destroyed a TV tower in Kharkiv.

Footage showed the red-and-white tower collapsing seconds after Russian missiles hit it on Monday afternoon in the eastern Ukrainian city, just 30 kilometers from the Russian border.

Local officials said there were no casualties in the attack, while regional governor Oleg Syniehubov wrote on social media that staff were in a shelter at the time.

But Syniehubov said the attack had disrupted television broadcasts in the region.

Kharkiv has been the target of brutal airstrikes by Russian forces in recent weeks. In a post on social media after the attack, President Zelensky wrote that Russia’s “clear intention was to make the city uninhabitable.”

He added that he had informed President Biden of the strike, which he said occurred just before their call on Monday.

In a readout of the White House call, President Biden said his administration has “an enduring commitment to supporting Ukraine in defending its freedom against Russian aggression.”.

The White House also said Biden committed to helping Ukraine “maintain financial stability, rebuild critical infrastructure from Russian attacks and support reforms as Ukraine moves forward on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration.”

The relief package approved by the House of Representatives on Saturday includes more than $9 billion in economic aid in the form of “forgivable loans” – loans that do not have to be repaid.

Mr Zelensky welcomed Mr Biden’s comments, and a top aide to the Ukrainian leader – Mykhailo Podolyak – said new US aid had given the war-weary country a welcome boost.

But Moscow has seen significant momentum in the conflict in recent weeks, scoring a string of victories in the country’s east.

And Mr Zelensky has warned that Russia is likely to seek major battlefield success ahead of Victory Day – a national holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany – on May 9.

He suggested that Moscow could try to take Chasiv Yar, a small town in the Donetsk region, before the holidays. Khasiv Yar is just west of Bakhmut, the ruined city captured by Russia last year after months of bloody fighting.

Military commanders in Kiev have said that Khasiv Yar, which has been virtually emptied of its pre-war population, would open a path to the Ukrainian-occupied towns of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk if they were captured by Moscow’s forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed it had captured the town of Novomykhailivka, also in the Donetsk region, on Monday. The BBC could not independently verify the claim, and Ukrainian defense officials previously said their forces had stopped the Russian advance on the village.

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, told the BBC’s Ukrainian service on Monday that Kiev’s armed forces will face “a rather difficult situation” in the coming weeks.

Lieutenant General Budanov admitted that the Russian capture of the city of Avdiivka was “a real success” for them. But he said that while the battlefield situation could worsen for Ukraine in the coming weeks, it would not be “catastrophic.”

“Armageddon will not happen,” he added.

President Biden also spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday.

In a readout of the call from her office, Ms. Von der Leyen said the pair discussed “their steadfast support for Ukraine as the country defends itself against Russian aggression” and “how sustained international support is essential to Ukraine’s fight for freedom.”

Meanwhile, in Moscow, a Russian man has been sentenced to five years of “penal labor” for commenting critically on the invasion of Ukraine in an American publication.

Yuri Kokhovets was accused of spreading “falsies about the military” for giving a critical quote about the war and President Vladimir Putin to the US-funded Radio Free Europe in February 2022.

It is the first known prosecution of a Russian citizen for expressing an opinion to a foreign journalist.