KYIV: The United States announced more weapons for Ukraine’s military as it claimed sweeping gains with the arrival of fresh Russian troops and two major battlefields in an offensive rush to beat the coming winter.
White House Says It’s Shipping Four More Precision of Hymers rocket launcher32 artillery pieces, 75,000 artillery rounds and 200,000 rounds of small arms ammunition as Russian fighters were holding back Ukraine from the Kyiv attack.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky On Tuesday his army was making “rapid and powerful” gains and had this week retaken “dozens” of villages in the east and south of Russia.
At a briefing in Moscow, the Russian military acknowledged in updated maps of the fronts that they had suffered significant territorial losses.
An official set up by the Kremlin in the southern Ukraine region of Kherson, which Moscow declared on Friday was now its own “sovereign territory”, urged residents to remain calm amid the Ukrainian military’s thrust, promising that Russian jets and artillery were fighting back.
“There is nothing to panic,” Moscow-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region Kirill Stremosov said on social media.
“Yes, you can hear explosions at a distance, but they happen very rarely.”
Zelensky said eight settlements had been withdrawn in the southern Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces had retreated.
The latest battlefield maps of Moscow showed that Russian troops had abandoned several areas in Kherson, including the west bank of the Dnipro River.
In the eastern Kharkiv region, maps indicated that Russian forces had almost completely abandoned the eastern bank of the Oskil River, potentially giving Ukrainians a place to open major Russian army transport and supply corridors.
Zelensky said, “Our troops do not stop. And it is only a matter of time before we expel the occupier from all our land.”
Meanwhile, Russia proceeded with a rapid-fire mobilization of more troops to shore up those already fighting in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the new fighters were being trained at “80 training grounds and six training centres”.
“To date, more than 200,000 people have entered the military,” he said.
Washington announced an immediate withdrawal of $625 million worth of weapons from existing US military stockpiles.
The new batch added four powerful Hymer medium-range missile launchers to the 16 already delivered, which allowed Ukraine to find Russian command depots and weapons stores far behind the front lines.
The Pentagon is also sending 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds, which can indicate medium to long-range targets.
“This package will provide the Ukrainian armed forces with the additional capabilities and weapons it needs to keep momentum going east and south,” said Laura Cooper, the top Pentagon official for Russia and Ukraine.
“We are watching their consumption rates for ammunition very closely to make sure they have what they need for retaliation,” she said.
The United Nations General Assembly has called an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss Russia’s declared annexation of the four regions in Ukraine it partially occupied.
At the meeting, 193 UN member states will weigh in on a resolution currently under preparation, as Russia denounced its claim of occupation at the Security Council last week.
Diplomatic sources said a resolution is being drafted by the EU along with Ukraine and other countries.
The resolution may explain the degree of isolation and support of Moscow on the global stage, as the war progresses and its effects spread.
Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed three resolutions relating to Russia’s invasion, with the third, in late April, revealing some erosion of international unity against Moscow.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said Ukraine’s economy could shrink by 35 percent this year, as the invasion has forced more than 14 million people out of their homes and hit industrial production.
Following the invasion of Moscow, Ukraine’s economy has been “destroyed by the destruction of productive capacity, damage to agricultural land, and a reduction in labor supply,” it said.
Kyrlo Shevchenko, the head of Ukraine’s central bank, announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down for health reasons.
“The war was another difficult test for our team and for me personally,” the 49-year-old said.
Together with the bank leaders, “we were able to keep the banking system running during the war, giving Ukrainians access to financial services and ensuring financial stability despite the most difficult conditions,” he said.
White House Says It’s Shipping Four More Precision of Hymers rocket launcher32 artillery pieces, 75,000 artillery rounds and 200,000 rounds of small arms ammunition as Russian fighters were holding back Ukraine from the Kyiv attack.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky On Tuesday his army was making “rapid and powerful” gains and had this week retaken “dozens” of villages in the east and south of Russia.
At a briefing in Moscow, the Russian military acknowledged in updated maps of the fronts that they had suffered significant territorial losses.
An official set up by the Kremlin in the southern Ukraine region of Kherson, which Moscow declared on Friday was now its own “sovereign territory”, urged residents to remain calm amid the Ukrainian military’s thrust, promising that Russian jets and artillery were fighting back.
“There is nothing to panic,” Moscow-appointed deputy head of the Kherson region Kirill Stremosov said on social media.
“Yes, you can hear explosions at a distance, but they happen very rarely.”
Zelensky said eight settlements had been withdrawn in the southern Kherson region, where Moscow’s forces had retreated.
The latest battlefield maps of Moscow showed that Russian troops had abandoned several areas in Kherson, including the west bank of the Dnipro River.
In the eastern Kharkiv region, maps indicated that Russian forces had almost completely abandoned the eastern bank of the Oskil River, potentially giving Ukrainians a place to open major Russian army transport and supply corridors.
Zelensky said, “Our troops do not stop. And it is only a matter of time before we expel the occupier from all our land.”
Meanwhile, Russia proceeded with a rapid-fire mobilization of more troops to shore up those already fighting in Ukraine.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the new fighters were being trained at “80 training grounds and six training centres”.
“To date, more than 200,000 people have entered the military,” he said.
Washington announced an immediate withdrawal of $625 million worth of weapons from existing US military stockpiles.
The new batch added four powerful Hymer medium-range missile launchers to the 16 already delivered, which allowed Ukraine to find Russian command depots and weapons stores far behind the front lines.
The Pentagon is also sending 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds, which can indicate medium to long-range targets.
“This package will provide the Ukrainian armed forces with the additional capabilities and weapons it needs to keep momentum going east and south,” said Laura Cooper, the top Pentagon official for Russia and Ukraine.
“We are watching their consumption rates for ammunition very closely to make sure they have what they need for retaliation,” she said.
The United Nations General Assembly has called an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss Russia’s declared annexation of the four regions in Ukraine it partially occupied.
At the meeting, 193 UN member states will weigh in on a resolution currently under preparation, as Russia denounced its claim of occupation at the Security Council last week.
Diplomatic sources said a resolution is being drafted by the EU along with Ukraine and other countries.
The resolution may explain the degree of isolation and support of Moscow on the global stage, as the war progresses and its effects spread.
Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed three resolutions relating to Russia’s invasion, with the third, in late April, revealing some erosion of international unity against Moscow.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said Ukraine’s economy could shrink by 35 percent this year, as the invasion has forced more than 14 million people out of their homes and hit industrial production.
Following the invasion of Moscow, Ukraine’s economy has been “destroyed by the destruction of productive capacity, damage to agricultural land, and a reduction in labor supply,” it said.
Kyrlo Shevchenko, the head of Ukraine’s central bank, announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down for health reasons.
“The war was another difficult test for our team and for me personally,” the 49-year-old said.
Together with the bank leaders, “we were able to keep the banking system running during the war, giving Ukrainians access to financial services and ensuring financial stability despite the most difficult conditions,” he said.