Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region, the focus of recent Russian offensives, has been destroyed, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as some of the world’s richest countries pledged to bolster Kyiv with billions of dollars.
Since turning away from Ukraine’s capital, Russia is using massed artillery and armour to try to capture more territory in the Donbas, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk areas. The US Senate overwhelmingly approved nearly $40 billion in new aid for Ukraine, by far the largest US aid package to date.
The White House is working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia’s naval blockade, officials said. The Group of Seven rich nations also agreed to provide Ukraine with $18.4 billion. Ukraine said the money would speed up victory over Russia and was just as important as “the weapons you provide”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia Thursday of weaponising food and holding grain for millions of people around the world hostage to help accomplish what its invasion of Ukraine has not — “to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people.”