KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s president praised the United States for including tank-killing armored vehicles in its latest multi-billion-dollar package of military aid, saying they could be used in the fight against Russian forces. “Exactly what is needed” for the detained Ukrainian soldiers.
Meanwhile, officials said it was unclear whether Moscow was observing a unilateral 36-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas, which Ukraine condemned as a ploy.
The latest multi-billion-dollar package of US military aid announced by the White House on Friday was the largest ever for Kyiv. For the first time, it included Bradley armored vehicles – they were known as tank killers because of their anti-tank missiles.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called it “a very powerful package” in his nightly televised address on Friday.
“For the first time, we will get the Bradley armored vehicle – this is exactly what is needed. New guns and rounds, including high-precision ones, new rockets, new drones. It is timely and robust,” he said.
He thanked US President Joe Biden, US lawmakers and “all Americans who cherish freedom, and who know that freedom is worth protecting.”
US announces new $3 billion military aid package for Ukraine
The package includes, in particular, Bradley armored vehicles as well as self-propelled howitzers, the White House noted. A detailed list of weapons is to be published by the Pentagon at a later date. pic.twitter.com/VL019RRK9w
— Next (@nexta_tv) January 6, 2023
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that a temporary ceasefire announced by Moscow for Orthodox Christmas was ignored by some of its forces as they pressed ahead with a nearly 11-month offensive.
In the hard-fought Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, regional government Serhiy Haidai reported continuing Russian shelling and attacks. Posting on Telegram, Haidai said that in the first three hours of Friday’s ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas Eve, Russian forces shelled Ukrainian positions 14 times and stormed a settlement three times. The claim could not be independently verified.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense, a major supplier of military aid to Ukraine, said in its daily readout on the invasion on Saturday that “fighting has continued at a regular level over the Orthodox Christmas period.”
Russia’s defense ministry alleged on Friday that the Ukrainian army continued shelling its positions, and said its forces retaliated, although it was unclear whether these exchanges occurred before or after the start of Moscow’s ceasefire. was provided or not.
Ukrainian officials dismissed Moscow’s unilateral order for a 36-hour pause as a ploy to buy its struggling invasion forces time to regroup. It was due to end on Saturday night – at midnight Moscow time, which is 11 p.m. in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian and Western officials characterized the announcement as an attempt by Putin to grab the moral high ground, while possibly trying to snatch the initiative from the battlefield and rob Ukrainians of momentum amid their counterinsurgency of recent months .
