WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Zelenskiy says he is grateful for US House approval of Ukraine aid
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed gratitude on Saturday for the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of a military aid bill for his country and said the assistance would save lives and "bring a just end" to the war with Russia.
"I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track," Zelenskiy wrote on X.
The president said the bill "will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger".
Minutes later, in his nightly video address, the president said the assistance "will be felt by our soldiers on the front lines" and praised the role of "American leadership" in preserving a rules-based international order.
"We will certainly use American support to strengthen both our nations and bring a just end to this war. A war that Putin must lose."
The bills making up the legislative package provide $60.84 billion to Ukraine, including $23 billion to replenish U.S. weapons, stocks and facilities.
The U.S. Senate, which passed a similar measure two months ago, is expected to approve the current bills next week and pass them on to President Joe Biden to sign.
Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko pointed to the legislation's provision of $7.8 billion for budget support.
"This is the extraordinary support we need to maintain financial stability and prevail," he wrote in English on X.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, writing on Telegram, said passage of the bill was evidence that the United States showed "leadership and resolve" in fighting for peace and security.
Shmyhal expressed thanks for approval of provisions that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the war.
"We will receive an important resource for victory and reconstruction," he wrote on Telegram. "I call on other countries where Russian assets are held to follow this example."
** Ukrainian drones strike Russian fuel depot, substations in major attack
Ukraine attacked eight Russian regions with dozens of long-range strike drones, setting ablaze a fuel depot and hitting three power substations in a major attack early on Saturday, an intelligence source in Kyiv told Reuters.
The overnight attack, which was confirmed by the defence ministry in Moscow, comes amid a Russian airstrike campaign that has battered Ukraine's energy system and pounded its cities in recent weeks.
Facing mounting pressure on the battlefield more than two years since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has tried to find a pressure point against the Kremlin by targeting oil refineries and energy facilities inside Russia using drones.
"At least three electrical substations and a fuel storage base were hit, where fires ignited," the Ukrainian source said, citing social media videos showing fires raging at different locations.
The source said the facilities were targeted for supporting Russian military industrial production.
Russia's defence ministry said it shot down 50 Ukrainian drones, including 26 in the Belgorod region, 10 in the Bryansk region, eight in Kursk region, two in Tula region as well as one in each of the regions of Smolensk, Ryazan, Kaluga and Moscow.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, said two civilians were killed as a result of the attack.
The strike targeted a fuel energy facility in the western Smolensk region's Kardym district, hitting a reservoir with fuel and oil lubricants, the local governor confirmed.
"As a result of the work of air defence forces, the aircraft were shot down. However, as a result of falling debris, a tank with fuel and oil lubricants caught fire," he said, adding that firefighters were battling to put out the blaze.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Ex-Russian president slams ‘US bastards’
The military aid bill recently passed by the US House of Representatives will not stop the Russian army in Ukraine, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.
After months of delays and political wrangling, the House approved the much-needed $61 billion for Ukraine, whose forces have been suffering setbacks on the battlefield due to ammunition shortages. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky thanked American legislators for their support.
Medvedev, who serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, argued, however, that “the vote of gleeful American bastards”will only prolong the fighting and “increase the number of victims of this war.”
“Obviously, we will win, regardless of the bloody dollars shoved down the throat of the insatiable [American] defense industry. The strength and the truth are on our side,”Medevdev wrote on Telegram, branding the US “a despicable empire of evil of the 21th century.”
House Republicans previously refused to back the Ukraine aid bill, while hoping to pressure the White House to crack down on the influx of illegal migration across the border with Mexico. Some legislators also accused President Joe Biden of lacking a clear strategy for ending the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky, meanwhile, has warned that Ukraine would lose if Congress fails to approve additional aid. Following criticism from Kiev and America’s allies in Europe, House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to put the bill to the vote this week, stating that Russia is part of a new “axis of evil.”
Reuters/RT
