Ukraine hails US military aid as cease-fire said to falter
KYIV, Ukraine (MNP) — Ukraine’s president is praising the United States for including tank-killing armored vehicles in its latest multibillion-dollar package of military aid, saying they are “exactly what is needed” for Ukrainian troops locked in combat against Russian forces.
The White House announcement Friday of $3.75 billion in weapons and other aid for Ukraine and its neighbors on NATO’s eastern flank came as Moscow said its troops are observing a short cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas, celebrated Saturday.
Ukrainian officials denounced the unilateral 36-hour truce as a ploy and said it appeared to have been ignored by some of Moscow’s forces pressing ahead with the nearly 11-month invasion.
Russia’s Defense Ministry insisted Saturday that its forces along the 1,100-kilometer (684-mile) front line were observing the cease-fire but returned fire when attacked.
The latest package of U.S. military assistance was the biggest to date for Kyiv. For the first time, it included Bradley armored vehicles — known as tank-killers because of the anti-tank missiles they fire.
In his nightly televised address on Friday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a very powerful package.”
“For the first time, we will get Bradley armored vehicles — this is exactly what is needed. New guns and rounds, including high-precision ones, new rockets, new drones. It is timely and strong,” he said.
He thanked U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. lawmakers and “all the Americans who appreciate freedom, and who know that freedom is worth protecting.”
Ukrainian officials dismissed the Kremlin-ordered cease-fire that started Friday for Orthodox Christmas Eve as a ploy to buy time for Russia’s struggling invasion forces to regroup. Ukrainian and Western officials portrayed the announcement as a Russian attempt to grab the moral high ground and possibly snatch battlefield initiative and momentum from Ukrainian forces amid their counteroffensive of recent months.
