The aid will have a value of roughly $3 billion to train and equip Ukrainian forces, according to multiple outlets. Wednesday is Ukraine's independence day, and Ukrainian officials have withdrawn certain celebratory events amid worries that Russian forces could launch "particularly ugly" attacks.
This aid will come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which means it won't come from existing U.S. stockpiles and will include Western air defense capabilities, a large quantity of ammunition, additional training, and maintenance, an official told CNN. Last week, the administration announced a set of aid worth $775 million.
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The capital, Kyiv, and the second largest city, Kharkiv, have forbidden independence day events amid the threat of "something particularly vicious," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
"One of the key tasks of the enemy is to humiliate us, Ukrainians, to devalue our capabilities, our heroes, to spread despair, fear, to spread conflicts. … Therefore, it is important never, for a single moment, to give in to this enemy pressure, not to wind oneself up, not to show weakness," he said.
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Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command, said Sunday that "the date of our independence and the anniversary of the invasion, half a year, coincide — it is the 24th. And there's Ukrainian flag day on the 23rd. We are ready for the fact that there will be an increase in some kind of aggression. There will be an increase in missile attacks."
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Six months into the war, Russia has failed to accomplish most of its original goals and has been forced to refocus its offensive on specific areas of eastern Ukraine.
"I would say that you are seeing a complete and total lack of progress by the Russians on the battlefield," a senior defense official told reporters on Friday. "In that sense, we are at a different phase than where we were even a couple of months ago."
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The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine urged all U.S. citizens to leave the country, signaling an ominous turn as Russia's full-scale invasion reaches the six-month mark.
The U.S. and Ukrainian governments cautioned that Russia may drastically step up attacks on Wednesday due to the symbolic significance of the day, which marks Ukraine's independence. The car bombing that killed Darya Dugina in Moscow has further prompted concerns that the Kremlin may use the attack as a pretext for greater government or civilian infrastructure attacks.
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