Nyt: Atacms missiles already sent secretly by the US to Kiev
The United States had previously provided Ukraine with a version of the Atacms with a range of 100 miles, about 160 km, but Kiev had long been asking for long-range ones of 190 miles (about 300 km), which can reach deeper into the territories of occupied Ukraine, including Crimea (hub of Russian air and land forces) and supply nodes for Moscow’s forces in the south-east of the country. Last Tuesday, Ukraine used long-range missiles to strike Russian troops in the port city of Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov, a senior American official told the NYT.
Biden: «If Putin attacks a NATO ally, we will come to their aid as they did with us on September 11th»
“If Putin attacks a NATO ally like he is attacking Ukraine, we would have no choice but to come to their aid, as they did to us on 9/11.” Joe Biden said this, referring to Article 5 of the collective defense of the Atlantic Alliance, so far invoked only after the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington by Al Qaeda. The American president has in fact expressed his belief that if «Putin manages to win in Ukraine, his next move would be a direct attack on a NATO ally»
Biden: «The USA does not allow tyrants to win and does not leave their allies alone»
“The United States does not allow tyrants to win and does not leave its allies alone.” Joe Biden said this after signing the law on new aid to Ukraine.
Biden: aid to Ukraine and Israel will start in the next few hours
Joe Biden has assured that the first military aid to Ukraine and Israel will start in the next few hours.
Biden signed aid to Ukraine, Israel and Tiktok ban
Joe Biden signed the huge aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and the ban on TikTok if it is not sold within nine months.
Russia-Ukraine agreement on child exchange
A Russian and a Ukrainian delegation had a face-to-face meeting in Qatar, where they agreed on the exchange of 48 children, 29 who will return to Ukraine and 19 to Russia. This was announced by Maria Llova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency.
Russia, deputy defense minister arrested
The Basmannyj District Court of Moscow, at the request of the investigative authorities, decided «against the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Timur Vadimovich Ivanov a preventive measure in the form of detention for a period of two months, until June 23, 2024». This was announced by the court’s press office. Ivanov is accused of receiving a bribe together with the previously arrested Sergei Borodin. The latter, we read in the note, «being on friendly terms with the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Ivanov, who oversaw the construction and major repairs of the facilities of the Ministry of Defense, entered into a criminal conspiracy with third parties , receiving a bribe on a particularly large scale in the form of providing real estate services during procurement and subcontracting work for the needs of the Ministry of Defense».
Patriarch 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.
Patriarch 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.
North Korea: “No support can stop Russia”
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 struggle of the heroic Russian army» in the defense of sovereignty and security .
All help
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.
Biden: “Weapons and equipment to Ukraine as early as this week”
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.
Zelensky: “We are grateful to the United States, vital aid”
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.
A new massive shipment of weapons to Ukraine to make the United States and the world “safer” in the face of the dangers of tyranny. After months of stalemate on Capitol Hill, Joe Biden has scored an important victory both in terms of elections and on the foreign policy front with the final approval of his 95 billion spending law, of which a first tranche of 1 billion is intended to Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces as part of a total of 60.8 for Ukraine which also includes humanitarian and economic aid.
But the news is also that Washington secretly sent the Atacms long-range missiles a month ago, which Kiev has been requesting for almost two years. The aid, the commander-in-chief assured immediately after signing the measure, will leave “in the next few days” and will arrive in Ukraine by the end of this week. In the official list released by the Pentagon on the first tranche of one billion there are air defense systems, artillery shells, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons that are already found in American depots in Europe. However, according to rumors from Politico, a month ago the Americans had already sent the coveted Atacms to Kiev, which Washington has always denied to Zelensky for fear of an escalation with Russia. And even though last October the Defense Department had sent medium-range weapons to Ukraine without much publicity, the leader of Kiev had continued to push for a weapon that could strike beyond Moscow’s lines. The approximately 200 long-range missiles would have arrived in March, as part of a 300 million dollar package, and would have already been used twice by the Ukrainian army to hit a Russian military airport in Crimea last Wednesday and Russian troops in southeast of the country during Tuesday night. At the time, key members of Congress were informed of the secret Atacms shipment but the Biden administration made no public announcement. Furthermore, according to what a senior American administration official revealed, this new package will also include powerful missiles, capable of hitting up to 300 km. For Biden, who thanked Republican Speaker Mike Johnson for having unblocked the law in the House by challenging Trumpian extremists, it is “an investment” in the security of the United States and its allies. “America does not bow to anyone, least of all Vladimir Putin,” the American president warned, assuring that the United States “will defeat the dictators of the world.” “If our partners are stronger, so are we”, he underlined, promising, once again, not to “leave friendly countries alone”. Zelensky for his part thanked the US Senate for approving the law, calling the next shipment of weapons a “vital help” for his forces. “Long-range weapons, artillery and air defense are fundamental tools to restore peace as soon as possible,” said the Ukrainian leader, who did not explicitly mention the Atacms. With this type of weapon, however, the Ukrainians were able to inflict serious damage on the Kremlin forces, as demonstrated by the videos published by the inhabitants of the affected areas last Wednesday, where devastating fires could be seen and the windows of the houses near the airport destroyed by the ‘explosion. «The key now is speed. The speed of implementation of agreements with partners on the supply of weapons for our warriors. The speed with which all Russian plans to evade sanctions are eliminated. The speed in finding political solutions to protect lives from Russian terrorism”, underlined the Ukrainian president. «Every leader who doesn’t waste time is a lifesaver. Every state that can act quickly safeguards the rules-based world order. I thank all those – said Zelensky – who help our people in the world to restore a normal life after the Russian attacks. I thank all those who help our warriors defend the cities and villages of Ukraine from Russian evil.”
Ukraine, Atacms missiles arrive from the USA: they hit targets up to 186 miles away. How war could change
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