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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The new US aid package is unlikely to radically change Ukraine's situation on the battlefield, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are facing a severe shortage of personnel and artillery shells at the front, the media outlet said after analyzing Ukraine's "dire battlefield position" and the progress made by Russian forces in recent months.

Earlier, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to provide with $60.84 billion in Ukraine-related aid, as well as to transfer frozen Russian state assets to Ukraine.

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Catch up with the latest news:

Why US aid bill for Ukraine might be not for Ukraine at all

US decision to confiscate Russian assets will ‘supercharge’ de-dollarization, expert tells Sputnik

At least 10 killed, mostly women and children, as a result of Israeli airstrike on Rafah

'Pariah' and partner Israel drags US ‘into garbage bin of history’ – here’s why

Biden allows US surveillance to continue spying on foreigners abroad

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Ukraine will 'collapse anyway' despite US aid bill, investor warns

The collapse of Ukraine is inevitable, despite the US aid bill for Kiev that passed the House of Representatives, American entrepreneur David Sacks wrote on X.

“These scenes of celebration are going to look particularly foolish when Ukraine collapses anyway. The federal government can print more money; it can’t just print more artillery shells and air defense missiles,” he wrote. He further quipped, “And I should have added, they can’t print more soldiers.”

The billionaire investor pointed out in his thread on X that, “It’s not “just” $61 billion. Ukraine will need massive annual cash infusions to stave off total defeat. So it’s $61 billion as the baseline for an annual appropriation in a new forever war.”

On Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The legislation, which now heads to the Senate, contains $60.84 billion in Ukraine-related aid.

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Hamas chief names countries he sees as guarantors of security in Gaza

Hamas wants to see Russia among the guarantors of security for the Gaza Strip, the chief of the movement’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, told Turkish media.

"Our demands in this matter remain in force. We want Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye, Russia, and the UN to be guarantors. Of course, the United States will also [be able to join] in the future. However, Israel constantly opposes this. Demand for guarantor countries – we always put it first," he said, as quoted by the TV channel A Haber.

Commenting on the failure of the negotiations, Haniyeh said that "Israel wants to get all the hostages and then continue military operations again."

"They want to legalize the occupation by the Israeli Army. That is why, for example, we do not raise the white flag in Rafah. Israel is the only force that prevents the establishment of a ceasefire. The US unconditionally accepts everything Israel says," Haniyeh noted.

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The head of Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia, Yevgenia Gutsul, has arrived in Moscow for a congress of Moldovan politicians and public figures supporting Moldova's entry into the Eurasian Economic Union, Sputnik correspondent reports.

The delegates are expected to discuss the prospects for Moldova’s political and economic development, as well as relations with Russia and upcoming presidential election in Moldova.

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❗️The ruling elites in the US are ready to pump weapons into Kiev to fight to the last Ukrainian, resorting to stealing frozen Russian assets, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, commenting on a multi-billion foreign aid package passed by the US House of Representatives.

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🔺Washington's actions as an actual party to the conflict will be met with an absolute, decisive response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

🔺The White House is not betting on a mythical victory of Kiev, but on Ukrainian forces to hold out at least until the US elections, so as not to spoil Biden's image, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

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A congress of Moldovan politicians and public figures advocating the entry of the Republic of Moldova into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Eurasian Economic Area (EEA) begins in Moscow.

Yevgenia Gutsul, the head of Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia, has arrived at the congress of Moldovan politicians and public figures supporting Moldova's entry into the Eurasian Economic Union, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

A powerful air bomb, which was dropped during the 1999 NATO attack, has been neutralised in Serbia and removed from a residential area in the largest city in the south of the country, Nis, the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated.

The found bomb was identified as an American MK 84 aerial bomb, weighing 1 tonne and containing 430 kilogrammes of explosives.

An unexploded bomb was found during excavation work in a densely populated residential area in Stevan Sindjelic. As a result, the area was cordoned off, and 1,300 residents were evacuated.

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⚡️The Russian Battlegroup Youg has completely liberated the settlement of Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People's Republic of Russia, according to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

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Moldovan opposition politician Ilan Shor announced in Moscow the creation of the “Pobeda" (Victory election bloc, Sputnik correspondent reports.

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❗️Russian troops destroyed a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet and air defense systems at the Dnepr airfield, as well as a workshop for the production of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the daily briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

🔺Ukraine has lost up to 440 militants as a result of the combat operations conducted by the Russian Battlegroup Youg.

🔺The Russian Battlegroup Tsentr improved its tactical position and successfully repelled eight Ukrainian counter-attacks in the Donetsk People's Republic of Russia, resulting in the loss of up to 360 Ukrainian militants.

🔺Ukraine has lost up to 50 militants and infantry fighting vehicles as a result of combat operations conducted by the Russian military group Zapad.

🔺Russian Battlegroup Vostok has taken more advantageous positions in the Donetsk People's Republic of Russia, defeating the Ukrainian armed forces and causing enemy losses of up to 100 militants.

🔺The Russian Battlegroup Dnepr has launched successful strikes against the Ukrainian Armed Forces in several locations, including Nikopol, the Dnepropetrovsk region, Berislav, and Zolotaya Balka. These attacks have resulted in the enemy losing up to 50 militants.

🔺The Russian Armed Forces have destroyed a Ukrainian military control centre, an air surveillance radar, and a launcher of the S-300PS surface-to-air missile system.

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An artilleryman from a group of troops defending the Russian border, with the callsign "Mario", identified the main target that he and his colleagues managed to destroy during a special military operation. It was a US-made M777 howitzer that had been firing at civilians in the city of Belgorod.

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