Russia hit Kyiv with cruise missiles in a menacing display of defiance while the UN Secretary-General was visiting the city and hours after Joe Biden announced a doubling of US military and economic aid to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes came “immediately after” his talks with UN chief António Guterres, “and that says a lot about Russia’s true stance on global institutions, about the Russian leadership’s efforts to humiliate the UN and… as far as the organization represents.
“Therefore, a strong response is needed,” added Zelenskyy.
The number of victims was not immediately clear. One of the missiles hit a residential building near the empty Artem Defense Works, which was evacuated ahead of the February 24 invasion.
“We are still in shock. We were inside when they bombed the building,” Maksym Maksymov, 29, a sales manager, told the Guardian. “We heard the first blow. And then a second missile hit the building.”
Guterres said he was shocked by the rocket attacks “not because I’m here, but because Kyiv is a holy city for Ukrainians and Russians alike.”
In his late-night address, Zelenskyy said the rocket attacks on Kyiv and other cities “prove that we must not let go of our vigilance.”
Thanking the US for the proposed new funding, he said rapid arms shipments were “a salvation not just for our people – this is a salvation for all of you – for all of Europe”.
The strikes came hours after Biden asked Congress for immediate approval of spending that would cost more than $33 billion in military aid.
Biden also requested $8.5 billion in economic aid for Kyiv and $3 billion in humanitarian assistance, as well as funds to increase U.S. production of food and strategic minerals to offset the impact of the war in Ukraine on global supplies .
The total of $33 billion is more than double the last amendment approved by Congress in March and dwarfs the entire defense budget of Ukraine and many other countries. The US President said it aims to help Ukraine repel renewed Russian offensives in the east and south of the country, but also to facilitate the transition to ensure the nation’s longer-term security needs.
That same day, Congress agreed to update the 1941 Lend-Lease legislation, which Franklin D. Roosevelt used to try to help Britain and other allies fight Nazi Germany. The updated law aims to make it easier for the US to ship military equipment to Ukraine.
She stands amid Russian warnings that increased Western arms sales to Ukraine would jeopardize European security, that Western intervention could trigger immediate Russian reprisals and increase the risk of a nuclear conflict.
Biden pleaded for Western aid, arguing on the contrary that if Putin was not stopped in Ukraine, he would continue to threaten world peace and stability.
The president made the request primarily in terms of Ukraine’s defense and did not explicitly reiterate his Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s statement earlier this week that one of the US goals in Ukraine is to weaken Russia in order to discourage it from attacking other countries to attack
“Despite the disturbing rhetoric emanating from the Kremlin, the facts are plain for everyone to see. We do not attack Russia. We’re helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Biden said. But he added the associated costs are “a small price to pay to punish Russia and the aggression to reduce the risk of future conflicts.”
“Throughout our history, we’ve learned that when dictators don’t pay the price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and engage in more aggression,” he said. “The threats to America and the world continue to mount. We can not permit that.”
The new military aid, funded by Congressional funds, includes:
More artillery and armored vehicles, as well as anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.
Help build Ukraine’s cyber warfare capabilities.
More information sharing.
Support to increase Ukraine’s ability to produce ammunition and strategic minerals.
Assisting in the clearance of landmines and other explosives and in defending Ukraine against chemical, biological and dirty bomb attacks.
Another build-up of US military presence on NATO’s eastern flank.
Kremlin official spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on Thursday that increased shipments of heavy weapons from the West to Kyiv would jeopardize European security.
“The tendency to pump weapons, including heavy weapons, into Ukraine are actions that threaten the security of the continent and create instability,” Peskov said.
The day before, Vladimir Putin had threatened a “lightning quick” response to Western intervention in Ukraine, adding: “We have all the weapons we need for it.”
His Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the US and its allies of waging a proxy war in Ukraine and warned of the increasing threat of a nuclear conflict.
Biden dismissed the accusation that he was waging a proxy war, describing the allegation as part of the Kremlin’s internal propaganda to explain the inability of Russian forces to achieve their goals.
“I think it’s more of a reflection, not of the truth but of its failure,” the president said. He added: “No one should make empty remarks about the use of nuclear weapons.”
The package of proposals, which the administration is submitting to Congress, also includes measures to strengthen the Justice Department’s hand in pursuing pro-Kremlin oligarchs, who seize their assets and use the proceeds to support the war effort in Ukraine.
Biden made his announcement as the UN Secretary-General visited Ukraine, where he called the war “an absurdity” in the 21st century.
Guterres on Thursday, on his first visit to Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24, ahead of talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Borodianka, where Russian forces are accused of massacring civilians before withdrawing.
In nearby Bucha, where dozens of civilian bodies, some with their hands tied, were discovered this month, Guterres supported an International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine. “I appeal to the Russian Federation to accept this and to cooperate with the International Criminal Court,” he said.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova named ten Russian soldiers allegedly involved in human rights abuses during the month-long occupation of Bucha.
Venediktova also told German television that since the Russian invasion, Ukrainian investigators have identified “more than 8,000 cases” of alleged war crimes.