LIVE War in Ukraine – day 791: Joe Biden: We will start sending weapons to Ukraine this week / Zakharova speaks of “possible military incidents” on the border with Finland / The priest at Navalnyi’s funeral was punished

​The $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan passed the US Congress after the US Senate narrowly approved it on Tuesday night by a vote of 79 to 18. President Joe Biden said he will promulgate as soon as it reaches his desk, adding that arms deliveries to the Kiev army will begin as early as this week. “This national security bill is one of the most important measures Congress has taken in a very long time to protect American security and the security of Western democracy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote. . Schumer said she left a message for Zelenskiy on Tuesday night, saying, “OK, I got it. Now go and win the fight”.

All information about the war in Ukraine – day 791 – LIVE on HotNews.ro:

A fire broke out at power facilities in Russia’s Smolensk region after a drone attack launched by Ukraine, and people were evacuated from parts of the southwestern Russian city of Lipetsk after a drone fell on an industrial park, they said regional officials, according to Reuters.

“Our region is again under attack by Ukrainian drones. As a result of the enemy attack on civilian fuel and energy facilities, fires broke out in Smolensk and Yartsevo districts,” Vasily Anokhin, governor of the Smolensk region in western Russia, said on Telegram.

Separately, Igor Artamonov, the governor of Lipetsk region in southwestern Russia, said a drone had fallen on an industrial area. He said on Telegram that there were no injuries, but nearby residents were evacuated as a precaution. Artamonov did not specify whether there was any damage or what target was targeted.

Unconfirmed images of the aftermath of the drone attacks appeared on social networks:

Joe Biden: We’ll start sending weapons to Ukraine this week

08:46 The Russian Orthodox priest who officiated the funeral service of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in March has been suspended from clerical duties for three years, the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church announced.

In a statement published on its website on Tuesday, the diocese did not specify the reason for the punishment, which bans the priest, Dmitri Safronov, from giving blessings, wearing the vestment and wearing the church’s priestly cross until 2027.

Safronov would also be transferred to another church in Moscow to perform the duties of psalm reader. “At the end of the period of penance, based on the reactions from the place of submission, a decision will be made regarding the possibility of him continuing to serve as a priest,” the diocese stated in the statement. (Reuters)

08:00 Biden: We’ll start sending weapons to Ukraine this week. US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the United States would “start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week” after Congress passed a long-awaited aid package for Kiev, reports AFP.

“I will sign this bill into law and address it to the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow (Wednesday),” he said in a White House statement.

Zakharova speaks of “possible military incidents” on the border with Finland

07:39 The NATO exercises that will begin on April 26 in Finland and in the immediate vicinity of the Russian-Finnish border have a provocative character, said the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, according to a material published on Wednesday by the state news agency RIA .

“NATO military exercises near the Russian borders are provocative in nature. Their task is to exert military pressure on the Russian Federation through a show of force,” Zaharova said.

“The exercises … increase the risks of possible military incidents,” she added.

06:43Brittney Griner says she thought about suicide while imprisoned in Russia. The American basketball star revealed on Tuesday that he considered suicide during the nine months he spent in prison in Russia in 2022, according to ABC.

00:07 Two other young Ukrainians crossed the border through the Maramureș Mountains: They were exhausted and, according to their words, in hypothermia – Salvamont. Two young Ukrainians who crossed the border into Romania through the Maramureş Mountains were dropped off by a local from Poienile de sub Munte commune, informed, on Tuesday evening, the director of the County Public Service (SPJ) Salvamont Maramureş, Dan Benga.

Brief recap of recent events:

• Russian troops will strike in unexpected parts of the front when they launch their summer offensive in Ukraine and may try to advance on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the commander of Ukraine’s National Guard said on Tuesday.
• Zelenskiy announced Monday night that the military aid package set to receive final US approval includes longer-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) missiles, which Kiev has long requested.
• The participation of the Romanian director Ciprin Mega, a priest of the BOR, at the Moscow International Film Festival to present his latest film, is criticized in harsh terms by the theologian Paul Palencsar, but also by the spokesperson of the Patriarchate, Vasile Bănescu.
• Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has announced that the new UK aid package for Ukraine will include millions of shells, hundreds of vehicles and Storm Shadow missiles, Ukrainian media reports.
• Latvia will eliminate the possibility of studying Russian as a second foreign language in schools, a new measure aimed at reducing Moscow’s influence in the Baltic country.
• Ukraine has suspended until further notice consular services for citizens who are of mobilization age and who live abroad, except for those necessary to return to Ukraine.
• ​Ramzan Kadîrov posted video footage of him lifting weights at the gym in an attempt to deny reports published by Novaya Gazeta that the Chechen leader suffers from an incurable pancreatic condition.
• Timur Ivanov, Russia’s deputy defense minister, has been arrested for alleged corruption, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced on Tuesday. Vladimir Putin was informed about the arrest of this high-ranking military officer, a rare decision in the context of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the Russian state media writes.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz has told President Vladimir Putin that he is unable to quote German philosopher Immanuel Kant as it distorts his writings given his recent comments about the war in Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency has informed Agriculture Minister Mikola Solski that he is a suspect in an investigation into the illegal purchase of state-owned land worth about $7 million, Kyiv media reported on Tuesday.

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