The president of United States, Joe Bidenstated this Friday on the occasion of the anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that “a dictator will not be able to eliminate the love of a people for freedom”.
With these words he referred to the Russian president, Vladimir Putinwhom he accused of trying to “rebuild an empire”.
“I repeat today what I said a year ago when Russia invaded Ukraine. (…) Brutality will never destroy the desire to be free”, he pointed out in a message on his Twitter account.
Thus, he insisted that Ukraine “it will never be a russian victory”. “Never”, he asserted after the US authorities have announced that they are preparing a new aid package of about 2 billion dollars to Ukraine.
The new aid, which does not come from US military reserves and will therefore take several months to reach kyiv, includes additional ammunition for Himars artillery and rocket systemsas well as dronesas reported by the Pentagon in a statement.
It also does not include other military equipment requested by the Ukrainian army, such as fighter jets and long-range missiles.
The United States, Ukraine’s largest donor, has already delivered or promised more than 32,000 million dollars in various types of weapons to kyiv since the start of the Russian offensive, on February 24, 2022, stressed the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
Other Ukrainian allies have unlocked more than 20,000 million dollars in total, the official said.
Vladimir Putin “thought Ukraine’s defenses would collapse, America’s resolve would weaken, and the world would look away. He was wrong,” Lloyd added.
“One year later, Ukraine’s courageous defenders have not wavered, nor has our determination to stand by them for as long as it takes.”
Over the months, Americans have escalated their military assistance towards heavier and more sophisticated equipment. At first anti-tank missiles, then precision artillery batteries, light armor, and finally Abrams heavy tanks.
During a surprise visit to kyiv on Monday, Biden announced another tranche of aid for 500 million dollarsespecially artillery ammunition and anti-armor systems taken from the stocks of the US Army, and therefore readily available.
The illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine marks one year this Friday, in which the former Soviet republic put up fierce resistance to Russian troops and, with Western backing, inflicted unexpected setbacks on Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The Russians entered the Ukraine on February 24, 2022starting the worst conflict on European soil since the end of World War II.
Twelve months later, numerous Ukrainian cities were left in ruins, a part of the country lives under Russian occupation and the death and wounded balance on each side exceeds 150,000according to Western estimates.
During this Friday, ceremonies will be held in cities symbolic of the suffering of war, such as buchaon the outskirts of kyivtheater of a massacre of civilians imputed to the Russian forces.
(With information from AFP)
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Source-www.infobae.com