The US has approved a $322m deal to sell to Ukraine a combined $322m worth of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Hawk surface-to-air missile systems. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said the Hawks would bolster Ukraine’s air defenses while the Bradleys would help meet Ukraine’s urgent need to strengthen local sustainment capabilities to maintain high operational rates for United States-provided vehicles and weapon systems. The state department approved the possible sales and the DSCA notified Congress, which would also need to approve the transactions.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised a new bill to strengthen the rule of law as mass protests over his decision to weaken the powers of two independent anti-corruption agencies roiled his government. He responded to the backlash by saying he would submit a further bill ensuring “all norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place.” The Institute for the Study of War said the protests in Ukraine were notably not anti-war or anti-Zelenskyy demonstrations but Russian propagandists were enthusiastically portraying them as such.
Chinese-made engines for war drones are being covertly shipped to the Russian manufacturer IEMZ Kupol labelled as “industrial refrigeration units” to avoid detection and western sanctions. The state-owned armourer makes the Garpiya-A1 attack drone partly modelled on the Iranian-designed Shahed. The long-range drone has been used against civilian targets, with about 500 launched per month.
Russian forces staged the latest in a series of mass aerial strikes on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, hitting the city’s historic center and an oil facility burned at Sirius, south of Sochi in Russia’s Krasnodar region. Emergency officials in Russia’s Krasnodar region said debris from a falling drone struck and killed a woman in the Adler district where the airport is located.
The European Council president, Antonio Costa, urged China to “use its influence” with Russia to help end the Ukraine war. Russia and Ukraine discussed further prisoner swaps at a brief session of peace talks in Istanbul, but the sides remained far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders. Ukraine brought home a new group of prisoners of war from Russia on Wednesday, and Zelenskyy discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defences with the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar.
