US gives $1.7 billion to fund Ukraine government; Russian car sales tank amid sanctions squeeze: Recap
The U.S. provided another $1.7 billion to ensure the Ukrainian government can continue to provide essential services such as health care.
Also Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a $1 billion EU contribution should reach Ukraine this month.
The U.S. contribution was made possible by "generous bipartisan support" from Congress, the U.S. Agency for International Development said. To date, USAID has provided $4 billion in direct budgetary support to the Ukraine government for core functions such as keeping electricity on for hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure, as well as paying for humanitarian supplies and the salaries of health care workers, civil servants and teachers.
“$1.7 billion is not just yet another financial support, it is an investment that makes us a step closer to victory," Viktor Liashko, Ukraine’s minister of health, said in a statement.
Latest developments
►The European Space Agency is officially terminating its cooperation with Russia on a mission to launch the first planetary rover from Europe, a mission aimed at exploring the surface of Mars, according to a tweet from ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher.
►Ukraine's military reported destroying a Russian ammunition depot outside the Russian-held city of Kherson. Russia dismissed the claim, saying a fertilizer factory was hit.
►About 80% of the population in the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donetsk province have fled, the Ukraine government estimates. About 340,000 civilians remain. Russia controls about half the province and almost all of Luhansk. The two provinces make up the industrial Donbas region that Russia seeks to control.
US doctors helping Ukraine medical teams via telehealth
An American health care network is taking an innovative approach to medical care in Ukraine, providing the expertise of its vast roster of specialists to several Ukraine medical centers while also donating hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplies.
Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York state, is incorporating the telemedicine system it developed through the COVID pandemic to offer free consultations to medical workers in Ukraine on a 24/7 basis.
Whether they are medics in battlefields, clinicians in war zones or providers caring for wounded soldiers and civilians elsewhere, they can reach Northwell’s experts through a number of web-based platforms, including Whatsapp and Telegram.
– Jorge Ortiz, USA TODAY
Sanctions pressure squeezes Russian car industry
Sales of new passenger cars in Russia are expected to decline 28% in 2022 and could drop as much as 50%, according to a report in the state-run media outlet Tass. The Trust Technologies auditing firm blamed increased sanctions pressure, declining imports and a "massive departure of players" as foreign firms leave Russia. Sales were forecast to include 227,000 cars from Russian brands, 688,000 foreign cars assembled in Russia and 175,000 imported cars. About 1.5 million new cars were sold in Russia last year.
UN condemns Russian bombing of apartment building; death toll rises
The death toll rose to 43 dead Tuesday and the search continued in the rubble of a five-story apartment building destroyed by Russian shelling in the Donetsk province city of Chasov Yar, Ukraine authorities said. At the U.N., Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, the acting humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, condemned the bombing.
"We continue to call on the parties to the conflict to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure in times of war," Stamp said. "We also again stress the need for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all parts of the country."
Putin to visit Iran after cutting deal for military drones
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran next week, the Kremlim announced Tuesday, one day after the Biden administration revealed that Tehran has agreed to provide Russia with “several hundred” drones.
Putin will meet with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has criticized sanctions imposed by the West against Russia.
On Monday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said intelligence indicates that Iran could train Russian forces on the drones, including some with military capability as soon as this month. He said it was unclear whether Iran has delivered any drones already. Sullivan, appearing at a White House press briefing, brought up Russia’s reliance on Iran for military equipment as an example of how Russia’s fighting in eastern Ukraine is “coming at a cost to the sustainment of its own weapons.”
Zelenskyy chastises Canada for sanction exemption
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Canada's representative in Kyiv after Canada approved a sanction exemption to allow return of turbines to Russian that Moscow had blamed for a reduction of gas flows to Europe. The Canadian government said the deal would support Europe’s ability to access energy while the EU transitions away from Russian oil and gas. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision "absolutely unacceptable" and warned it will be perceived in Moscow as a reflection of weakness.
UN to monitor war for violations against children
The United Nations on Monday said that it will start monitoring the war in Ukraine for violations against children, including killings, injuries, recruitment, rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflicts in Ukraine, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Africa’s central Sahel region have been added to 21 conflicts that the U.N. already is monitoring for violations of the rights of children. He said the latter conflicts saw “a high number of grave violations” in 2021.
The U.N. chief said the protection of children was severely affected by escalating conflicts, the multiplication of armed groups, land mines and improvised explosive devices, explosive weapons in populated areas, intensified humanitarian crises and violations of humanitarian and human rights law.
Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict, said at a news conference that “forays of extremely violent armed groups, military coups and instability, and violent electoral processes in fragile states, left 19,100 child victims of grave violations during 2021 in the 21 country and regional situations we monitored.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine recap: U.S gives $1.7 so government can keep operating
