Russia says hit weapons supplied by West as Pelosi visits Kiev
Russia says it struck at weapons supplied to Ukraine by the West as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meets President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev during an unannounced visit.
Pelosi, the highest-ranking American leader to visit Ukraine since the start of the war, arrived in Kiev on Saturday, leading a Congressional delegation.
The visit comes as Russia says Ukrainian force’s shelling has killed and wounded its own civilians in the southern region of Kherson.
In a video shared on Zelenskiy’s twitter, Pelosi said the US supports Ukraine’s “fight for freedom” until the conflict is over.
“We believe that we are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom … Your fight is a fight for everyone. Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” she said in the video.
“Our delegation proudly delivered the message that additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package,” her office said in a statement.
Zelensky also tweeted: “Thank you to the United States for helping protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state.”
The US and its European allies have provided Ukraine with weapons worth billions of dollars as well as humanitarian aid.
US President Joe Biden last week proposed a $33bn aid package for Kiev, including $20bn for weapons, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday his country would continue “to give the Ukrainians the equipment they need to defend themselves.”
Biden also outlined proposed new laws to allow using luxury assets stripped from Russian oligarchs to compensate Ukraine for the destruction wreaked by the invading Russians.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West against continuing military assistance to Kiev, saying the weapons deliveries were “pouring oil on the flames of the war.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry said Ukraine’s forces shelled a school, kindergarten and cemetery in the villages of Kyselivka and Shyroka Balka in the Kherson region, the Russian RIA news agency reported on Sunday. The Russian ministry gave no further details.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine to the report. But on Sunday, Ukraine’s military said, in a bulletin, that Russian forces were fighting to break beyond Kherson’s administrative borders and prepare the way for attacks on the cities of Mykolayiv and Kryvyi Rih.
Russia has turned its focus toward Ukraine’s south and east and its forces have captured the town of Kherson in the south. Moscow is looking forward to linking the south of Ukraine with the Crimean Peninsula as it pushes for complete control over Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
On April 21, Russia declared victory in Mariupol.
