America Last, Zelensky First:

US Congressmen celebrate the approval of a $61 billion aid package to Ukraine.

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The US House passes the $26.38 billion Israel aid bill in a 366-58 vote, sending it to the Senate.

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$61 billion in false promises: What will the new Ukraine aid package actually accomplish?

The vast majority of the aid package will go directly to US military contractors and into the Pentagon budget itself, retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik. The rest will be used to pay Ukrainian bureaucrats, leaving very little for the needs of frontline soldiers.

“It looks like $45 billion stays in the US and that leaves about $16 billion to Ukraine in the form of direct aid.,” she said. “The 2024 Ukrainian budget is $82 billion and about half of this is unfunded by tax revenue. Likely the $16 billion that makes it to Ukraine will be instantly absorbed to pay government bills rather than go to the war effort.”

No less significantly, the new aid package does nothing to resolve Ukraine’s biggest military problem, which is a lack of manpower, former Pentagon analyst Mike Maloof told Sputnik.

“They have no means to undertake a counter-offensive, and just given the amounts of artillery that they burn through, what even the US is proposing probably wouldn't last more than six months at best.”

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The expectable decision of the US House of Representatives to provide assistance to Ukraine will benefit America and damage Ukraine, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He added that the confiscation of Russian assets would harm the image of the United States and scare off investors in this country.

The US will answer for the confiscation of Russian state assets, Peskov said.

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The allocation of US military assistance to Ukraine is a direct support for terrorist activities, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. She also said that the allocation of US military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan will exacerbate the global crisis. Zakharova further stated that the provision of US military support to Taiwan is an interference in China's internal affairs.

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🔺The US House passes the $60.84 billion Ukrainian aid bill in a 311–112 vote and the $26.38 billion Israel aid bill in a 366-58 vote, sending both to the Senate.

🔺$61 billion in false promises: What will the new Ukraine aid package actually accomplish?

🔺Tucker Carlson: US Deep State blackmails Congress into submission

🔺On the hook: why US cannot abandon Russia's unique nuclear fuel HALEU

🔺US-greenlit Israeli strike on Iran ‘not game changer’ - former Netanyahu advisor

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‘America Last’: US Congresswoman lambasts Ukraine aid package

Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna expressed her bewilderment that the US would send tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine instead of strengthening the border, helping homeless veterans, or stimulating the economy.

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Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, called the US House decision to continue fund Ukraine a vote to maximize the number of military casualties.

"We will certainly win, despite the 61 billion gory dollars that will mostly go down the throats of their gluttonous military-industrial complex. Strength and Truth are with us," stated Medvedev.

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‘Every American should be furious’: Marjorie Taylor Greene blasts US Speaker Mike Johnson over $61 billion Ukraine aid package

“How can you vote for these people? They don’t serve our country,” she told reporters at press conference after the US House voted 311-112 to pass new Ukraine funding.

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Biden renews US surveillance law that allows spying on foreigners abroad

US President Joe Biden signed a bill on Saturday that extends authorization of a key US foreign surveillance program for another two years, the White House said.

"On Saturday, April 20, 2024, the President signed into law: H.R. 7888, the ‘Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act,’ which extends and modifies Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act relating to foreign intelligence gathering," the statement read.

The White House applauded the Senate for passing the legislation shortly before it was due to lapse at midnight, describing it as "one of the US’ most vital intelligence collection tools."

The intelligence act, which allows the US government to spy on communications of non-US citizens outside the US, cleared the House of Representatives last week, but it was held up in the Senate by divisions over whether communications of Americans involved in exchanges with non-Americans should continue to be collected without authorization.

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‘Pariah’ Israel is dragging US ‘into garbage bin of history’

Israel’s apparent insistence on launching a regional war in the Middle East is dragging the US with it “Into the garbage bin of history,” and US lawmakers seem willing to watch it happen, journalist Esteban Carrillo, the head of news at The Cradle, told Sputnik’s Political Misfits.

While discussing the recent US vote against Palestinian statehood in the UN, Carrillo explained that it is working against US interests.

“It’s completely a case of the tail wagging the dog. And US politicians just seem so content to just go along with it,” he explained. “What does Netanyahu have over the heads of these people? Because it doesn’t seem like they are even willing to consider at this point stepping away from this pariah that is just dragging them down into the garbage bin of history.”

While tensions between the two countries have seemingly cooled slightly since Israel’s attack on Friday caused virtually no damage to Iran according to Iranian officials, Carrillo does not think Israel is done trying to drag the US into the war.

“The US government for so long now, hasn’t seen a war they didn’t want to be a part of.”

“The Israeli government currently, I don’t see them having an exit. They retaliated in such a small way overnight against Iran. That doesn’t mean they’re not going to try to do something in Lebanon, and that doesn’t mean at all that they’re not going to try to do something in Gaza,” Carrillo said, noting reports that the US is now on board with an Israeli plan to invade the southern Gazan city of Rafa, where roughly 1.5 million Palestinians fled to after being forcibly displaced by Israel.

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The US Senate will begin voting on Tuesday (April 23) on aid bills, including one regarding Ukraine, and on seizing Russian assets, Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said

US mulls posting more military advisers to Kiev embassy

The US is considering sending more military advisers to the US Embassy in Kiev, the US Department of Defense spokesman Patrick Ryder said.

"Throughout this conflict, the DOD has reviewed and adjusted our presence in-country, as security conditions have evolved. Currently, we are considering sending several additional advisers to augment the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the Embassy," he told Politico.

The Pentagon spokesperson added that the office performed advisory and non-combat support missions despite being staffed exclusively with Department of Defense personnel.

The number of US advisers to be sent to Ukraine could be up to 60, Politico reported, citing two US officials.

Advisers will support logistics and oversee the weapons Washington is sending to Kiev, as well as assist the Ukrainian military in maintaining the weapons, US officials said.

Western countries have been providing military aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow has consistently warned against continued military aid to Kiev, saying this would lead to further escalation of the conflict.

"The US is getting more and more personally involved in this [Ukrainian] conflict. They are getting involved, it's an obvious thing. And let no one say that they have nothing to do with it. We believe that they do," Russian President Vladimir Putin noted earlier.

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3 Ukrainians drones were destroyed over the Vygonichsky, Dubrovsky and Navlinsky districts of the Bryansk region, there were no casualties or damage, said regional governor Alexander Bogomaz

Israeli minister warns US against sanctioning IDF battalion over human rights violations

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, warned the United States on Saturday that potential sanctions against the ultra-orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion would be a "red line."

"Sanctions against our soldiers is a red line! Minister [of Defense Yoav] Galant must immediately support Netzah Yehuda," he wrote on social media.

US news website Axios reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken would announce sanctions against the Israel Defense Forces’ controversial unit in the coming days. The unit is reportedly considered the destination for young radical settlers from the West Bank who were not accepted into other IDF units.

The sanctions will ban the battalion and its members from receiving US military aid and training. They are based on human rights violations that were recorded in the West Bank before Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

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US confiscation of Russian assets will ‘supercharge’ de-dollarization

The decision to confiscate Russian assets and provide them to Ukraine represents a major escalation in the West’s sanction war against Russia. However, the move is short-sighted by the US because it will accelerate global de-dollarization, which will remove one of the most powerful tools the US has.

“It's reinforcing the need to de-dollarize on the part of any third-party country. Be it Russia, be it China - be it anybody else, including any country in the G-7 that may be marginally supportive of the United States. This is pure and simple economic blackmail,” Paul Goncharoff, chief manager of consulting firm Goncharoff LLC told Sputnik.

"So it just supercharges de-dollarization. And that's not good, especially when you have an America that is used to living on larger and larger debt raised by people placing the trust and buying treasuries and bonds," Goncharoff added.

The decision “seriously undermines the image and credibility of the West,” Lev Sokolshchik, an associate professor of the School of International Regional Studies and research fellow of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics told Sputnik.

“This is strictly just political testosterone on overdrive. Very short-sighted on the part of America.” Goncharoff concluded.

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UK develops Challenger 3 tank due to need for ‘more lethal tank’

The UK is investing in the development of a new Challenger 3 tank as the country's military needs "a more lethal tank" fit for a modern battlefield, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said.

"Britain needs a more lethal tank. That’s why we’re investing hundreds of millions of pounds in the Challenger 3 to rapidly get the Army the upgraded tank they need to fight and win on any modern battlefield," Shapps said on X.

On Thursday, the UK Defense Ministry announced that the latest of eight Challenger 3 prototypes had rolled off the production line. The new edition includes a more advanced turret with a more powerful smoothbore gun compatible with NATO ammunition, as well as upgraded armor and sensors. The UK army is expected to eventually receive 148 Challenger 3 tanks.

The UK has supplied Ukraine with several Challenger 2 tanks. In September 2023, a Challenger 2 tank was destroyed in combat between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, with the incident believed to be the first destruction by enemy fire in the model's nearly 30 years of being in service.

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US aid bill for Ukraine 'insufficient' for Ukraine’s needs, bolsters US military

The funds of a multi-billion foreign aid package passed by US House are "woefully insufficient" for Ukraine's wartime needs, David Pyne, a former US Department of Defense officer and executive vice president of Task Force on National and Homeland Security, argued.

The bill "will not change the outcome of the war which will inevitably end with a Russian victory and Ukraine being forced to accept Russia’s peace terms", Pyne believes.

Pyne raised concerns that a substantial portion, around 80%, would benefit US defense industries, since House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that only a fraction, approximately $12-14 billion, would directly provide weapons to Ukraine.

Furthermore, Pyne shed light on Ukraine's critical shortages of artillery shells and air defense missiles.

"Russia has been quite successful in its goal of ‘demilitarizing’ both Ukraine and NATO, causing the US and its NATO allies to unilaterally disarm themselves of tens of thousands of its most modern weapon systems and transfer them to Ukraine", stated Pyne.

He highlighted the stark disparity between Russian and Ukrainian&NATO artillery capabilities, noting that "Russia produces over three times as many artillery munitions than all of NATO combined".

"Russian forces have been successful in inflicting half a million Ukrainian military casualties including about 250,000 killed in action and 250,000 seriously wounded with as many or more Ukrainian amputations over the past two years than France suffered... on the Western Front during World War One," Pyne said.

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Israeli airstrike in Rafah reportedly kills ten, as invasion fears grow

Fears that Israel still plans to invade the last remaining refuge for Palestinians displaced from Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza, are growing after an Israeli airstrike on the city killed 10 people on Friday, mostly women and children.

“This is a world devoid of all human values and morals,” Ahmed Barhoum told The Associated Press, who lost his wife, and five-year-old daughter, as well as his sister, brother-in-law and their three children in the bombing.

The attack came after Israeli drones were reportedly shot down over Iran early Friday morning, seemingly in response to an Iranian attack earlier this week that was itself a response to an Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate in Syria’s capital city Damascus.

Shortly after Iran’s missile and drone attack, Israeli minister Benny Gantz vowed to “exact the price” from Iran “in the fashion and timing” that is right for Israel. It is unclear if that attack was intended to do that.

“It's very confusing to me. What it means is that we have to [put the attention back on] what's going on in Gaza, which is a disaster that's still going on, and nobody's stopping the horror,” Jim Kavanagh, independent journalist and editor of The Polemicist told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour on Friday.

On Saturday, Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli military has continued to attack the city, with one reporter saying “there has been no let-up in the fighting.”

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'No exit strategy': Musk has commented on the US House of Representatives' decision to approve a new aid package for Ukraine.

He responded to a post by businessman David Sacks, in which he calculated that the allocated aid, advertised as "saving Ukraine," would be enough for exactly half a Ukrainian summer counteroffensive.

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European officials oppose the confiscation of Russian assets, considering such a decision a potential violation of international law, according to The Washington Post.

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said last week that proposals to tap frozen Russian assets for Ukraine's benefit risked "breaking the international legal order you want to protect."

European officials are also worried about US insistence on what they regard as a risky course of action, as they hold the vast majority of the assets, and any Russian response is likely to fall on Europe, not the United States.

Earlier, the House of Representatives passed a bill to provide additional aid to US allies, including Ukraine, as well as measures to transfer frozen Russian state assets to Ukraine.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US would have to answer for the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets, adding that the move would damage the United States' image abroad.

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