US to send $300m in military aid to Ukraine as Republicans continue to block $60bn funding package
The US will send around $300m in military aid to Ukraine as Republicans continue to block a $60bn funding package for Kyiv.
The aid package being provided will include anti-aircraft missiles, artillery rounds and armour systems, a senior US defence official has said.
It marks the US Department of Defense’s first announced security package for Ukraine since December.
It came as Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk used a joint visit to the White House on Tuesday to press Washington DC to break its impasse and release the $60bn (£47bn) of US support for Ukraine which is being blocked by Republicans.
The package would help to replenish funds for Ukraine during a critical moment in the war.
Ukraine war updates: Armed groups ‘invade’ Russia
Ukraine’s situation has become dire, with units on the frontline rationing munitions as they face a vastly better supplied Russian force.
CIA director William Burns told Congress that entire Ukrainian units have told him in recent days of being down to their last few dozen artillery shells.
The months without further shipments of US support have hurt operations, and Ukrainian troops withdrew from the eastern city of Avdiivka last month, where outnumbered defenders had withheld a Russian assault for four months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly implored US Congress for help, but House Republican leadership has not been willing to bring the $60bn Ukraine aid package to the floor for a vote, saying any aid must first address border security needs.
Senior defence officials have told reporters the US defence department has been able to get cost savings of roughly $300m (£235m) in earlier Ukraine contracts and, given the battlefield situation, decided to use those savings to go ahead and send more weapons.
The United States has committed more than $44.9bn (around £35bn) in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $44.2bn (around £34.6bn) since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on 24 February 2022.
The $300m funding was announced on Tuesday as Denmark said it would provide a military aid package for Ukraine worth around £263m.
It came as Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an interview to his country’s state media where he said he would be ready to use nuclear weapons if his nation’s sovereignty was threatened.
The Russian president also said on Wednesday that Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO is “a meaningless step” and that Moscow will deploy troops and systems of destruction to the Finnish border after the country joins the alliance.
Mr Putin was speaking hours after a long-time aide of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who Western leaders say was murdered by the Kremlin, was attacked with a hammer in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Lithuanian police are investigating the attack on Leonid Volkov as it remains unclear who carried it out.
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Meanwhile, Russia’s military said it had killed 234 fighters who crossed into the country from Ukraine.
An image released by the Russian Defence Ministry shows what it says is a destroyed tank of Ukraine-based armed groups that entered Russia. Pic: Reuters
The fighters had attempted to reach the Russian town of Tetkino, which lies close to the border, according to the governor of Russia’s Kursk region, Roman Starovoit.
Sky News has not independently verified the claims.
Ukraine-based military groups, allegedly made up of Russian partisans, had earlier said they had carried out an incursion across Russia’s western border.
Overnight, officials said Ukraine has launched a drone attack on several Russian regions for the second night in row, with more than 30 drones destroyed in the air over the Voronezh region.
Police officers stand in a front of an apartment building damaged by a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih. Pic: Reuters
It came as three people were killed and at least 10 children were wounded after a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian president’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih.
Earlier on Tuesday a Russian military plane crashed in Russia’s Ivanovo region with 15 people on board.
Russia’s defence ministry has not released details of casualties.
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Russian military plane crashes after takeoff
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s security service (SBU) has claimed an alleged Russian agent serving in Ukraine’s army planned to kill commanders by poisoning their baths.
The SBU said military counterintelligence thwarted the attack against army commanders in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and detained a man who “turned out to be an active serviceman of the Ukrainian army”.
“To commit the crime, he planned to add a poisonous substance to the water of the bath and laundry complex, which was used by the command staff,” the SBU said.
Pakistan has launched attacks on “multiple targets” across India, according to the media wing of Pakistan’s military.
Pakistan said in a statement that retaliatory attacks are underway in response to what it called “continuous provocation” by India, which fired missiles at three air bases inside Pakistan.
“Multiple targets in this operation are being engaged all across India,” the statement from Pakistan Armed Forces (PAF) said.
Pakistan’s military said it used medium-range Fateh missiles to strike more than 25 military sites, including airbases and weapons depots in the Indian states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, as well as locations in India-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan’s military posted footage on X showing missiles being fired from what appeared to be a mobile launcher.
Pic: MilitaryPakISPR
The AP news agency also said loud explosions have been heard in India-administered Kashmir, in the disputed region’s two big cities of Srinagar and Jammu, and the garrison town of Udhampur.
Meanwhile, an Indian military source told Reuters that India has launched air operations in Pakistan, although no further details were given.
The operations mark the latest escalation in a conflict between the two nuclear-armed rivals, triggered by a deadly attack last month in India-administered Kashmir.
Most of the 26 civilians killed were Hindu Indian tourists. India blames Pakistan for backing the assault, an accusation Islamabad rejects.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of the National Command Authority, the body which takes security decisions, including those related to the country’s nuclear arsenal.
State-run Pakistan television said three air bases were struck by India on Friday, although Pakistan insisted most of the missiles had been intercepted.
Despite the military offensive, PAF also posted a message on X in what appeared to represent an opportunity to de-escalate the situation.
“Now that a response has been given we hope the neighbour [India] will move to dialogue and diplomacy like Civilized Nations,” it said.
In recent days, both countries have launched a series of missile and drone strikes, although the scale and impact have been consistently questioned by each other.
On Wednesday, India conducted airstrikes on several sites in Pakistani territory. Pakistan said it shot down five Indian fighter jets.
On Thursday, India claimed to have repelled drone and missile attacks at military targets in more than a dozen cities and towns, including Jammu in India-administered Kashmir. Meanwhile, India claimed it struck Pakistan’s air defence systems and radars close to the city of Lahore.
A damaged house in Jammu, in Indian-administered Kashmir, after a Pakistani drone attack. Pic: AP
The Indian army said on Friday that Pakistan fired about 300 to 400 drones, targeting military installations along the western borders – a claim strongly denied by Pakistan.
The G7 group of advanced economies, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and Britain, urged maximum restraint from both India and Pakistan.
“We call for immediate de-escalation and encourage both countries to engage in direct dialogue towards a peaceful outcome,” a statement issued on Friday said.
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World
European leaders to meet in Ukraine for ‘coalition of the willing’ talks – and issue call to Russia
Sir Keir Starmer will join other European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on the “coalition of the willing”.
The prime minister is attending the event alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
It will be the first time the leaders of the four countries will travel to Ukraine at the same time – on board a train to Kyiv – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Follow latest updates on the Ukraine war
Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz travelling in the saloon car of a special train to Kiev. Pic: Reuters
Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for the coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.
Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement voicing support for Ukraine and calling on Russia to agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
Sir Keir and Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in March. Pic: AP
“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.
“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”
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Putin’s Victory Day parade explained
The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.
But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.
“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.
“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”
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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.
They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.
This force “would help regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces after any peace deal and strengthen confidence in any future peace”, according to Number 10.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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