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The incident is the latest in a string of attacks underscoring the conflict’s civilian toll. The World Health Organization said there have been 18 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances since the Russian invasion began, resulting in 10 deaths. The conditions, with patients crowded into basement shelters, are viewed by health experts as a petri dish for the spread of infectious diseases.
In the United States, House lawmakers on Wednesday approved new humanitarian, economic and military assistance to Ukraine worth approximately $14 billion — money intended to deliver military support, respond to the emerging refugee crisis, bolster NATO allies and enforce sanctions against Russia and its political elite. The bill still requires a vote in the Senate.
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House approves $14 billion in aid for Ukraine, stiff new economic penalties for Russia
Return to menuHouse lawmakers approved a sweeping, roughly $1.5 trillion spending package on Wednesday that would fund the U.S. government and stave off a potential shutdown, while provisioning a slew of new humanitarian, economic and military assistance to Ukraine.
The bipartisan outcome capped off a tumultuous day on Capitol Hill that nearly imperiled a long-sought, hard-fought compromise only days before a critical fiscal deadline. Alongside it, Democrats and Republicans adopted a separate yet related measure to levy economic punishments against Russia for its invasion, including limits on its oil exports, much as President Biden had announced this week.
Both bills still require a vote in the Senate, which must act on the spending package before midnight Friday otherwise Washington will grind to a halt.
Pentagon rules out sending warplanes to Ukraine, says benefit would be ‘low’
Return to menuThe Pentagon on Wednesday firmly ruled out any U.S. participation in efforts to supplement Ukraine’s inventory of fighter aircraft, warning that such a step could be seen by Russia as “escalatory” while assessing any potential benefit would be “low.”
“We do not support the transfer,” the Defense Department’s chief spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters at the Pentagon, citing intelligence suggesting that the United States taking such steps at this time could be a “mistake.” In a separate statement, Gen. Tod D. Wolters, head of U.S. European Command, labeled the prospect of sending additional jets to Ukraine “high-risk and low gain.”
The debate over equipping Ukraine with warplanes has grown more urgent in recent days, with President Volodymyr Zelensky appealing to NATO member countries for help establishing a no-fly zone — or at least supplying Kyiv with the means to better police its skies alone. On Tuesday, the Pentagon quashed a Polish proposal to put its Soviet-origin MiG-29s in Germany to be used by the United States in aiding the Ukrainian war effort.
A new iron curtain descends on Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine
Return to menuAn economic and cultural iron curtain is descending on Russia as President Vladimir Putin proceeds with his invasion of Ukraine, reversing decades of integration with Western economies and threatening to isolate Russians to an extent unseen since the Soviet era.
The dramatic severing is the result of punishing restrictions put in place by the United States and Europe, including bans on Russian aircraft flying in Western airspace and sanctions on the central bank. It has been compounded by a voluntary exodus of international companies from the Russian market.
But the isolation is also a function of the repressive measures Putin has taken at home. Those moves have curbed the free flow of information online, contained public protest and sent thousands of Russians fleeing abroad, fearing the possibility of martial law, conscription or closed borders in a country careening toward a more severe form of authoritarianism.
“As Putin tries to reduce Ukraine to rubble, he is also turning Russia into a prison,” Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said during testimony to Congress on Tuesday.
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