Six months into Russia war, US to give $3bn in fresh military aid to Ukraine

As the Russia-Ukraine war reaches six months, the US will provide $3 billion in fresh military aid to Kyiv to train and equip the Ukrainian fighters for years to come.

According to The Associated Press which cited US officials, the package is expected to be announced on Wednesday, the day the war hits the six-months mark, and Ukraine celebrates its independence day.

The assistance will go into funding contracts for three types of drones, other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, the officials said.

The latest announcement comes even as the US has warned that Russia might amp up the strikes on major civilian targets, coinciding with Ukraine’s independence day observations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged citizens to be on guard against “Russian terror.”

Russia is expected to up the ante after Kremlin vowed to punish those involved in the assassination of Daria Dugina—the daughter of Alexander Dugin, an ultra-nationalist intellectual allied with President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow believes Ukraine is responsible for the killing, but the latter has denied responsibility for the Saturday bombing, which apparently targeted Dugin.

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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the investigation into the attack would be completed soon.

“According to the results of this investigation, there can be no mercy for those who organised, ordered and carried out” the car bombing, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

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Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia traded charges at a Tuesday meeting of the UN Security Council on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops, with Ukraine and its allies demanding Russia pull its troops out of the plant and agree to a demilitarised zone.

(With inputs from agencies)

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