Ukraine reports it has downed a Russia heavy bomber aircraft that had been doing a bombing run 180 miles into the Ukraine….
(If the Ukraine begins to deploy F-16’s ?….Russian bomber runs should end over Ukraine)
The US House is scheduled to vote to ok a Foreugn Aid package that will be approved by the US Senate and sent to President Biden to sign , which would begin a vast refreshmnet of arms and equipement *quickly to the Ukraine and Israel and Taiwan…
The UK’s Billion in aid has been slow in coming to Ukraine due to paperwork issue and won’t be fully expended for maybe a year….
The Russian Foreign Minister says his countries military goals include trying to re-take Kharkiv…..
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Ukraine said it shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber from a distance of 308km (180 miles) after it took part in a long-range airstrike that killed eight people including two children in Dnipro. “I can only say the plane was hit at a distance of 308km, quite far away,” said Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s military spy agency, the GUR.
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An intelligence source told Reuters the plane was hit with a modified S-200 Soviet-era long-range surface-to-air missile system. Unconfirmed social media footage showed a warplane with its tail on fire spiralling towards the ground. The Russian defence ministry confirmed the crash in Russia’s southern Stavropol region but claimed it appeared to have been caused by a technical malfunction. Four aircrew ejected with one dead, two rescued and another missing, the Russian regional governor said.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the site of the strike in Dnipro and again called on Ukraine’s allies to rush in more air defences. Zelenskiy said Russian missiles also struck the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi in the southern Odesa region on Friday afternoon, destroying grain storage facilities and the food inside.
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In the US, the House of Representatives has pushed ahead through procedural hurdles towards passing a foreign aid package that includes $61bn for Ukraine, Joanna Walters writes. The House is expected to vote on Saturday on the legislation. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic party leader in the Senate, has told senators to be prepared to return this weekend if the package passes the House and goes back to the Senate. If passed by the Senate, it must be signed into law by president Joe Biden – after which the US would ship arms to Ukraine “right away”, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on Friday.
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More than half of an international £900m military fund for Ukraine run by the British Ministry of Defence has not been used because of bureaucratic delays in handing out contracts, Daniel Boffey reports. Critics claim slow provision of weapons to the frontline by the International Fund for Ukraine, with just £404m spent and ministers admitting some of the equipment is not expected to reach Ukraine until spring next year.
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The fund was set up in August 2022 and was designed to be “flexible” and “low-bureaucracy”. Delays are said by MoD officials to have been caused by a need to assess each of the huge number of defence companies that have tendered for contracts. An MoD spokesperson said: “Thousands of responses have been received from industry to International Fund for Ukraine requirements, each of which have had to be individually reviewed. We make no excuses for having made sure this was done properly and in a way that most effectively helps Ukraine.”….
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Apr 19, 2024 – ISW Press
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov signaled Russia’s intent to seize Kharkiv City in a future significant Russian offensive operation, the first senior Kremlin official to outright identify the city as a possible Russian operational objective following recent Ukrainian warnings that Russian forces may attempt to seize the city starting in Summer 2024.
* The Pentagon say’s with a signature from President Biden….
The arms shipments will begin immediately to Ukraine…..
One official, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration’s planning, said that once the $95 billion foreign aid bill is finalized, it would take less than a week for some of the weapons to reach the battlefield, depending on where they are stored. The legislation includes about $60 billion for Ukraine, with most of the remainder slated for Israel and U.S. partners in Asia….
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The bill for Ukraine provides nearly $61 billion in assistance, in line with the measure the Senate passed. This would include two things Ukraine says it needs urgently — a resupply of artillery rounds and air defense missiles. Notably, the House version converts financial assistance to Ukraine’s government, separate from military assistance, into a loan.
The ground war in Ukraine has been largely an artillery duel, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken of Russia having a 10-1 advantage in artillery. In recent months, Russia has made limited gains on the ground. Zelenskyy and Ukrainian military officials say they have simply run out of ammunition in some cases and been forced to retreat. They say the problem could soon get even worse.
Ukraine’s air defense systems have been effective against Russian airstrikes for much of the past two years. But Russia has been carrying out more damaging strikes on Ukrainian cities and power plants in recent months. Ukraine says this also reflects a shortage of air defense missiles needed to shoot down the incoming Russian fire. The capital Kyiv and a few other critical places are well protected, but other parts of the country have limited air defenses at best.
The bill includes nearly $14 billion to help Ukraine buy advanced weapons systems and defense equipment, $13.4 billion to replenish U.S. defense stockpiles, $7.3 billion for current U.S. military operations in the region and $13.7 billion for purchasing U.S. defense systems for Ukraine….