Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskiy urges US Senate to rapidly ratify aid package amid fears of new Russian offensive

Ukrainian president says priorities are air-defence systems and long-range missiles. What we know on day 789

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the US Senate to rapidly ratify the long-delayed military aid package passed by Congress over the weekend, warning that his country was preparing its defences amid fears there could be a large Russian offensive before the fresh supplies reach the frontline. “We really need to get this to the final point. We need to get it approved by the Senate … so that we get some tangible assistance for the soldiers on the frontline as soon as possible, not in another six months,” he said.

In the interview with US television network NBC, he also said that Saturday’s vote showed Ukraine would not be “a second Afghanistan”, whose pro-western government collapsed during an US-led pull out in the summer of 2021. Zelenskiy said his immediate priorities were air-defence systems such as the US-made Patriots and long-range missiles such as Atacms, which can travel up to 186 miles (300km) and which the House has called on the Pentagon to provide promptly.

Russia said US lawmakers’ support for another $61bn (£49bn) in military aid for Ukraine showed that Washington was wading much deeper into a hybrid war against Moscow that would end in humiliation on a par with the Vietnam or Afghanistan conflicts. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said it was clear that the United States wanted Ukraine “to fight to the last Ukrainian” including with attacks on Russian sovereign territory and civilians.

Ukraine’s military said on Sunday it had struck and damaged a long-serving Russian rescue vessel in Sevastopol, the headquarters in occupied Crimea of Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet. Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said the vessel, the Kommuna, had been hit in Sevastopol Bay on Sunday morning and it was “clear that the ship is no longer in a state to carry out assignments.”

Russia said Sunday its forces had gained territory near the key battleground of Chasiv Yar in east Ukraine, taking control of Bogdanivka, a small frontline village less than three kilometres (two miles) northeast of the town. “Units of the southern grouping of troops have completely liberated the settlement of Bogdanivka,” Moscow’s defence ministry said.

Global military expenditure has reached a record high of $2440bn (£1970bn) after the largest annual rise in government spending on arms in over a decade, according to a report. The two largest spenders – the United States (37%) and China (12%) – made up around half of global military spending, increasing their expenditure by 2.3% and 6% respectively. The Kremlin’s military expenditure in 2023, after a year of full-scale war with Ukraine, was 24% higher than in 2022 and 57% more than in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea.

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