A barrage of Russian missiles targeted Ukraine’s capital, injuring at least 45 people Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged U.S. officials to approve $61 billion in new aid to help his country fight off Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine’s air forces said the country’s air defenses downed all 10 ballistic missiles launched by Russia.
Falling debris from the downed missiles damaged a children’s hospital and the city’s water system, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said, while Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said debris also hit several homes.
“Russia has proven once again that it is a heinous country that fires missiles at night, trying to hit residential areas, kindergartens, and energy facilities during the winter,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday on social media. “There will be a response. Certainly.”
Zelenskyy added that he and U.S. President Joe Biden had agreed to work on increasing the number of Ukraine’s air defense systems, and that Russia had “demonstrated how critical this decision is.”
The Biden administration Tuesday announced up to $200 million in new military aid, including air defense missiles and components, for Ukraine from previously approved resources.
The announcement came as Zelenskyy used his visit to Washington to make a forceful case for a new commitment of $61 billion in aid to help his country’s war cause as the U.S. Congress decides on the matter.
The Ukrainian leader rejected the notion that his nation would cede territory to the Russians after nearly two years of brutal warfare.
“That's insane, to be honest,” Zelenskyy said.
He added: "I don't know whose idea it is, but I have a question to these people: if they are ready to give up their children to terrorists. I think not.”
Biden also pressed for Ukrainian victory and seemed to push back against starting negotiations with Moscow.
"We need to ensure Putin continues to fail in Ukraine and Ukraine to succeed,” he said. “And the best way for that to do that is to pass the supplemental” funding request.
But the U.S. Congress, which signs the checks, is not yet convinced. Earlier Tuesday, Zelenskyy met with lawmakers in an attempt to persuade them.
Republicans say they want to see “proper oversight” of the funding, and they also want to see “a clear articulation of strategy.”
Biden, meanwhile, accused Republicans of playing into Moscow’s hands by failing to pass the aid package.
“The host of a Kremlin-run show said, ‘Well done, Republicans. That's good for us,’” he said, adding: “If you're being celebrated by Russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you're doing. History will judge harshly those who turn their back on freedom’s cause.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused Zelenskyy of “cadging” – slang meaning to beg for something undeserved – and said he is an American puppet.
But U.S. taxpayers are showing signs of Ukraine fatigue, and some Republicans question why about a third of U.S. money goes not toward weapons, but government assistance.
John Jameson, a mine-clearing campaigner who recently visited the country, said Ukraine needs every penny.
“The deminers were working while we heard the sound of artillery going on,” he told VOA, on Zoom. “And they're doing that because they know it's essential for them to be able to start farming and producing and going back to work now so they can live so they can not only just to fight the war but so they can live but no, we can't wait until the fighting is over.”
But when will it end? Analysts say this may take more than a year – and question whether Ukraine’s supporters are funding it enough, considering how well this small army has done against a much larger foe.
“They’ve become, in some ways, victims of their own success,” said Dalibor Rohac, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “I don't think we should be sort of reasonably asking Ukrainians to do more, especially given the almost homeopathic nature of Western assistance. When you think about the amounts of munitions that are being delivered – the miniscule amounts of long range artillery, precision artillery, air defenses, etc, etc, that are being delivered to Ukraine. I think they are making a really impressive use of very limited resources that are given to them, provided to them, against a much larger adversary.”
This urgent discussion comes as Biden on Tuesday announced another $200 million in military aid for Ukraine from previously approved resources.
Biden has asked Congress for a $110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel, along with other national security priorities.
But Republicans in the U.S. Senate have balked, saying major U.S. border security changes are needed.
Some Republicans are asking for the immediate deportation of migrants who entered the country illegally, stripping them of a chance to seek U.S. asylum. They have also called for greatly scaling back Biden administration programs that have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. lawfully.
The U.S. has already provided Ukraine $111 billion for its fight against Russia's 2022 invasion.
VOA’s Carla Babb contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
