War, new weapons from the United States to Ukraine. Kirill suspends priest who commemorated Navalny

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, imposed a three-year suspension on the priest who held a memorial service at Alexey Navalny’s grave in late March, 40 days after his death. Meduza reports it. Priest Dmitry Safronov, cleric of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on Lyschikova Hill in Moscow, is now banned from giving blessings, wearing the cassock and carrying the church’s priestly cross until 2027, when his future will be reevaluated, he decreed Kirill. The Patriarch’s order does not explain why he suspended him from conducting services.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, imposed a three-year suspension on the priest who held a memorial service at Alexey Navalny’s grave in late March, 40 days after his death. Meduza reports it. Priest Dmitry Safronov, cleric of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin on Lyschikova Hill in Moscow, is now banned from giving blessings, wearing the cassock and carrying the church’s priestly cross until 2027, when his future will be reevaluated, he decreed Kirill. The Patriarch’s order does not explain why he suspended him from conducting services.

North Korea has called the US aid package to Ukraine “hallucinogenic”, in the belief that no amount of support will be able to stop Russia. This is what Deputy Foreign Minister Im Chon-il claimed in a statement relaunched by the KCNA agency, in the midst of Pyongyang’s strengthening of military cooperation with Moscow. «Additional military aid is simply a hallucinogen that temporarily alleviates the fears» of President Volodymyr Zelenski, said Im for whom «no US military aid will be able to stop the fight of the heroic Russian army» in the defense of sovereignty and security .

The US Senate has approved a long-delayed $95 billion package with broad bipartisan support to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The final vote was 79-18. Fifteen Republicans voted against the bill along with three Democrats. Forty-eight Democrats and 31 Republicans voted for the bill. President Joe Biden signed today to transform the package into law. Its approval represents a significant victory for the president of the United States. Just before the final passage, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began his brief speech with “finally, finally, finally.” “Tonight, may Vladimir Putin rue the day he questioned American resolve,” he said. The package combines four bills that the House voted on separately on Saturday, providing nearly $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, more than $26 billion for Israel and more than $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The first three bills are very similar to the package passed by the Senate earlier this year, which House Speaker Mike Johnson originally declined to bring to the House floor. The fourth bill increases sanctions on Russian goods and contains terms that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States. Chinese parent company ByteDance gives about nine months to sell TikTok, or the app will be banned from American app stores.

US President Joe Biden said the US “will begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week” after the US Congress voted on long-awaited aid for Kiev. “I will sign this bill and speak to the American people when it arrives on my desk tomorrow” (today in Italy), Biden said in a White House statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the US Senate for approving $61 billion in military and economic aid to his country. “I am grateful to the US Senate for approving vital aid for Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on social media shortly after approving the massive aid package for Kiev.