While the U.S. Treasury is taking extreme measures to avert a crisis as the June debt ceiling deadline approaches, the Biden administration has promised another $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine. On Thursday, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced the aid package and vowed that the U.S. “will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine 11 months ago, Ukrainian troops have arrived on U.S. soil. American military officials have announced that Ukrainian forces have arrived in the U.S. and will begin training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
After having appointed a new Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, Germany is increasing pressure on Washington to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a move the Biden administration has been hesitant to make for fear that Russia will view it as an escalation.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley visited a military base in Germany on Monday to inspect the expanded U.S. training of Ukrainian forces.
On Wednesday, a helicopter carrying 9 people, 3 of whom were top Ukrainian government officials, crashed in the city of Brovery near Kyiv in what is the worst aerial disaster since the start of the war. In total, 16 people died, including Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, First Deputy Minister Yevheniy Yenin, and State Secretary Yuriy Lubkoychis.
On Monday, Russia and Belarus launched joint aerial exercises in Belarusian airspace. The exercises are expected to last a full 2 weeks, ending on February 1. It is a worrisome sign for neighboring Ukraine as its war with Russia enters a full year next month.
The death toll from the Dnipro apartment strike that occurred Saturday in the latest Russian assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has now risen to 44. That figure includes 4 children with an additional 79 people injured, and reports that many residents are still unaccounted for.
After allegedly suffering numerous casualties, Russian forces have deployed units of the self-propelled 2S4 Tyulpan, or Tulip, mortar, also known as the “Sledgehammer,” to Ukraine. The weapon is the world’s largest mortar and is capable of using a nuclear warhead on the battlefield.
Russia and its regional ally, Armenia, are struggling to maintain good relations after Armenia canceled planned military exercises with Russia, which were to be held under the countries’ Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
In a move that Russia is likely to interpret as an escalation, French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Wednesday to provide French-made AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine. Macron is the first Western leader to provide tanks to the war-torn country.