Month: August 2022

The White House announced its largest-ever security assistance package for Ukraine on Wednesday — six months to the day since Russia invaded — with a $3 billion commitment that brings the U.S. price tag for this 184-day conflict to $13.6 billion. Unlike previous aid packages that addressed immediate military needs, this new package focuses on medium- and long-term military assistance that will take months or even years to land. “This is a long-term commitment to Ukraine to continue to fight for their freedom, and bravely, as they have been doing for the past six months,” said White House press secretary …

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As Ukraine marks the six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion, VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports on the fallout from the conflict. Millions of refugees have fled the country, food exports have plummeted and the United Nations is warning that the world faces “maximum danger” over the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. …

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President Joe Biden on Wednesday praised the “extraordinary courage and dedication to freedom” of the Ukrainian people in fending off Russian fighters, six months into Moscow’s invasion, while demonstrating continued U.S. support for Kyiv’s forces with nearly $3 billion in new military aid. On Ukraine’s Independence Day marking 31 years since escaping Soviet rule in 1991, Biden said the day “is not only a celebration of the past, but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains – and will remain – a sovereign and independent nation.” Biden said the new tranche of military assistance was designed to help Ukraine defend …

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The number of coronavirus deaths reported worldwide fell by 15% in the past week while new infections dropped by 9%, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. In its latest weekly assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were 5.3 million new cases and more than 14,000 deaths reported last week. WHO said the number of new infections declined in every world region except the Western Pacific. Deaths jumped by more than 183% in Africa but fell by nearly a third in Europe and by 15% in the Americas. Still, WHO warned that COVID-19 numbers are likely …

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukrainians are “fighting for our destiny” as the country marked its Independence Day along with six months since Russia launched its invasion. Speaking in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, Zelenskyy said Ukraine will fight for its land “until the end,” and that while once the end of the war would be marked by peace, now Ukraine wants victory. “And we will put our hands up only once — when we will celebrate our victory. The whole of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “Because we do not trade our lands and our people. For …

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