Just hours after the U.S. Senate blocked a White House request that would have allocated about $60 billion for Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Japan for the additional $1 billion in aid, saying the funds will provide “significant support” to the nation.
President Joe Biden, who earlier urged Congress to swiftly review more military aid to Ukraine and warned that Russian leader Vladimir Putin may be emboldened to seize more place if he wins on the field, suffered a major battle in the vote on whether to let the costs with the White House demand to advance.
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“Putin won’t stop there if he conquers Ukraine. He’s pretty much made that clear,” Biden said on December 6 in a televised statement, warning that if he took Ukraine, Putin might try to send his forces into one of the NATO nations.
Republicans, however, argued that the bill lacked immigration changes and blocked the whole $106 billion request, which also included money for Israel, Taiwan, and to strengthen the southern U.S. border.
With spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating on December 7 that “It is to be hoped that there are enough people with sober minds among American congressmen” and that Biden wanted to “continue burning taxpayers’ money in the furnace of war,” the Kremlin expressed hope that Congress will continue to block military aid for Ukraine.
Zelenskiy canceled a meeting with U.S. lawmakers earlier this year because it was becoming increasingly unlikely that the aid request would be granted.
He received the pledge from Japan on December 7 that has the potential to raise the total aid package to as much as $4.5 billion.
Ukraine has been preparing for a second protracted winter of war with Russia, which began its full-scale war in February 2022. This is taking place in the east, particularly in and around the industrial area of Avdiyivka in Donetsk.
The city, which has emerged as the most recent example of Ukrainian resistance, has been the target of Russian forces’ attempts to surround it for several weeks.
Even after Russia took control of a sizable portion of the Donetsk region in 2014, including the town of Avdiyivka, which is only 10 kilometers to the south, Ukraine continues to control the area.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military stated in its daily report that 34 Russian attacks in the Avdiyivka area were repulsed by Ukrainian forces, making up more than one-third of the 91 assaults that Kyiv’s forces fought off on the whole front line over the previous 24 hours.
The reports from the field could not be independently verified.
On December 6, the UN issued a warning that Moscow was intensifying strikes on Ukraine’s power network as large storms and freezing temperatures hit the nation.
According to Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca of the UN Security Council, Russia’s attacks on crucial Ukrainian civilian infrastructure have worsened civil conditions in addition to causing civilian casualties.
He commanded that all attacks on civilians and civilian facilities be stopped right away. They are just unacceptable and are against international humanitarian law.
After a power plant close to the front line was shelled, causing significant damage and crippling two power units, Ukraine asked people to save energy for the first time during this chilly season.
According to the Energy Ministry, there is a temporary lack of power because the two units have been shut down and there has been an increase in demand. By using energy “wisely and economically, especially during peak hours,” the government urged consumers to aid
energy workers.
Russian attacks that have been ongoing and have resulted in significant damage have put pressure on Ukraine’s energy grid.
Russia is still attacking crucial grain export infrastructure.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa area, stated in a message on his Telegram channel that it launched drone strikes on the Danube harbor of Izmayil on December 7 that resulted in the death of one person and damage to port features.
The 18 Iranian-made drones that Russia launched at the Odesa and Khmelnytskyi regions on December 7 were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, according to earlier reports. The military claimed in a Telegram message that the Shahed-136/131 drone attack originated from Cape Chauda in the Crimean region under Moscow’s occupation.
“They specifically attacked the infrastructure of the Danube port.” Cars, trucks, and a grain elevator were all damaged. According to Kiper, the driver of one of the vehicles was killed, and a fire broke out but was quickly put out by emergency personnel.
Ukraine has used its Danube ports of Reni and Izmayil on its borders with Romania to deliver food to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta ever since a United Nations-brokered agreement that allowed for the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports collapsed in July.
Since then, Russia has used drone strikes to attack both Odesa, Ukraine’s primary Black Sea port, and the two Danube ports, causing significant damage and interfering with Ukrainian grain exports. On the territory of Romania, a NATO member, debris from broken Russian drones has even crashed.
