Biden to provide additional $800 mn to Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that it would provide additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, saying it hopes to provide new capabilities tailored to a wider Russian assault expected in eastern Ukraine.

The latest aid brings the total aid to more than 2.5 billion since Russian forces invaded in February, including artillery systems, artillery rounds and armoured personnel carriers, Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency, according to the new security assistance package first reported by Reuters on Tuesday.

Russia s use of chemical weapons in Mariupol was unavoidable, but not unexpected as Moscow faces setbacks, Ukrainian general says.

Russia says more than a thousand Ukrainian marines have surrendered in Mariupol.

Putin's troops have done so far, from Mariupol to Kramatorsk to Bucha.

Zelenskiy has pleaded with the U.S. and European leaders to provide heavier arms and equipment as his country faces an invasion that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

Russia has called its actions in Ukraine a special operation to destroy Ukraine's military capabilities and capture what it considers dangerous nationalists, but Ukraine and the West say Russia has launched an unprovoked war of aggression.