The White House warned Monday that U.S. resources for providing aid to Ukraine will run out by the end of the year unless Congress acts.

“This isn’t a next year problem,” White House budget director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders.  “The time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now. It is time for Congress to act.”

Young said nearly all of the $111 billion allocated to assist Ukraine had been used.  The largest pool of the money was used for military aid, while others were dedicated for economic and civil assistance as well as humanitarian aid.

The Biden administration has pushed Congress to approve a $106 billion package that would provide aid for Ukraine, Israel and other areas.  The Ukraine portion amounts to $61 billion.

The proposal has faced opposition from some Republicans in the House of Representatives who have questioned providing more aid to Ukraine and sought to tie any additional funding to demands for border security measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.

On the battlefield

Ukraine’s military said Monday that Russia attacked the country overnight with 23 Iranian-made Shahed drones along with a cruise missile.

The Ukrainian air force reported on Telegram that the military’s air defenses shot down 18 of the 23 drones and destroyed the missile.

The air force said the air defenses operated in at least nine regions in Ukraine, but did not specify which ones.

The governor of the Mykolaiv region said six of the drones were shot down there, with the debris from one downed drone damaging an agricultural building.

Officials in Lviv also reported at least one drone in that part of the country, but no damage or injuries.

In Kherson, the regional governor said early Monday that Russian shelling during the past 24 hours had killed two people and injured eight others. The governor also reported damage to a kindergarten, as well as a medical building and an engineering facility.

Also Monday, the governor of Russia’s Voronezh region said Major General Vladimir Zavadsky, the deputy commander of Russia’s 14th Army Corps, was killed in Ukraine.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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