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 had previously urged Congress to swiftly approve more military aid to Ukraine, warned that Russian leader Vladimir Putin may be emboldened to seize more territory if he is winning on the battlefield, suffered a major defeat in the vote on whether to let the bill with the White House request to advance.
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“If Putin seizes Ukraine, he won’t end there. 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 commitment from Japan on December 7 that could bring the total aid package up to $4.5 billion.
In the midst of protracted fighting in the west, particularly in and around the industrial area of Avdiyivka near the Donetsk region, Ukraine has been preparing for a second longer winter of war with Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
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 meters to the south, Ukraine continues to control the area.
More than one-third of the 91 assaults that Kyiv’s forces fought off on the whole front range over the previous 24 hours were repelled by Russian forces in the Avdiyivka area, according to the military public employees of Ukraine.
The information from the field could not be independently verified.
On December 6, the United Nations issued a warning that Moscow was intensifying its attacks on Ukraine’s electricity system due to the country being hit by heavy storms and freezing conditions.
According to Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca, Russia’s attacks on crucial Ukrainian civilian facilities have worsened civil conditions in addition to killing civilians.
He commanded that all attacks on civilians and civilian facilities be stopped right away. “They are just unethical and are against international humanitarian law.”
After a power plant close to the front line was shelled, causing severe damage and crippling two energy models, Ukraine for the first time this warm season asked citizens to conserve electricity.
There is a brief light shortage, according to the Energy Ministry, as the two units have been shut down and demand has increased. 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 generator.
Russia is still attacking crucial grain export equipment.
The governor of the Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, stated in a message on his Telegram channel on December 7 that it launched drone strikes on the Danube port of Izmayil, killing one person and damaging terminal services.
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.
The Danube port infrastructure was particularly attacked. Cars, trucks, and a grain elevator were all damaged. According to Kiper, the driver of one of the cars 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 the border with Romania to deliver food to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta since the decline in July of a United Nations-brokered agreement allowing the secure passage of Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports.
Since then, Russia has used drone strikes to attack both Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, and the two Danube ports, causing significant damage and interfering with Ukrainian grain exports. On the side of Romania, a NATO member, debris from downed Russian drones has even crashed.
