The U.S. allocates almost $8 billion for weapons for Ukraine, including JSOW and Patriot, “Nightmare scenario”: the bank of Russia bank admits the onset of stagflation – Bloomberg, latest Shahed and missile attacks
The U.S. allocates almost $8 billion for weapons for Ukraine, including JSOW and Patriot
U.S. President Joe Biden announced a sharp increase in security aid for Ukraine, pledging nearly $8 billion for weapons in the coming months.
Biden made the announcement on the occasion of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s expected visit to the White House on Thursday.
He commended Ukraine’s achievements in the war, but noted that there is still a lot of work ahead.
“That’s why today I’m announcing a sharp increase in security assistance to Ukraine and a number of additional measures to help Ukraine win this war,” the US president said.
In particular, Biden instructed the Department of Defense to allocate all the remaining security assistance funds that were allocated to Ukraine until the end of his term in office.
“As part of this effort, the Department of Defense will allocate the remaining funds of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative by the end of this year.
I also authorized $5.5 billion under the President’s arms reduction authority to ensure that the authority is permanent and that my administration can fully use the funding Congress has provided to support the reduction of U.S. equipment for Ukraine and then replenish the U.S. stockpile,” Biden said.
The U.S. Department of Defense also announced $2.4 billion for security assistance under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which will provide Ukraine with additional air defense equipment, unmanned aerial systems and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and support needs.
“In order to enhance Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities, I have decided to provide Ukraine with long-range JSOW munitions,” Biden said.
In order to further strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, I instructed the Department of Defense to repair and provide Ukraine with an additional battery of Patriot air defense systems, and also provide Ukraine with additional Patriot missiles,” the U.S. president also said.
This, he said, is a continuation of his decision earlier this year to redirect U.S. air defense exports to Ukraine, which will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional Patriot and AMRAAM missiles over the next year and help Ukraine protect its cities and its people.
In addition, on Wednesday, the United States announced a new $375 million military aid package for Ukraine.
“Nightmare scenario”: the Bank of Russia recognizes the onset of stagflation – Bloomberg
The Bank of Russia sees early indications that policymakers’ nightmare scenario of high prices coupled with slow economic growth — elements of what is known as stagflation — risks becoming a reality for the aggressor country.
This is stated in the material of Bloomberg. “There are signs of cooling domestic demand. However, there is no reduction in inflationary pressures,” the article says, citing a summary of the Central Bank’s meeting. Price growth remains high as a result of the economy overheating in the first half of 2024, the bank said.
“The Bank of Russia, which didn’t specifically refer to stagflation, said domestic demand remained high, but supply-side constraints such as labor shortage may be behind the slowdown, according to the report,” Bloomberg said.
“The Bank of Russia’s statements indicate the central bank sees the economy on the cusp of stagflation. Despite sanctions and labor shortages binding output growth, corporations and consumers don’t expect price increases to slow. They also don’t perceive double digit borrowing rates as particularly restrictive. The central bank is right to be worried — we expect inflation to continue running above policymakers’ 4% target, while GDP growth is likely to slow to 1%-1.5% in 2025,” said Aleksandr Isakov, Bloomberg Economics Russia economist.
Another economist, Oleg Kuzmin from Renaissance Capital, said that there would be no stagflation.
Russia is now at a crossroads between a “soft” and “hard” economic landing next year, he believes. In both cases, growth will slow to 1.3% or 2.5%, but inflation should also decrease to around 5%.
The latest attacks with Shaheds and missiles: damage from shrapnel in Kyiv, Russia attacks power facilities in the Mykolayiv region and Ivano-Frankivsk, strikes Zaporizhzhia and Starokostiantyniv
On the night of September 26, Russia massively attacked Ukraine with Shaheds. Explosions were heard in the Khmelnytskyi region, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kyiv, and there was shrapnel damage in Kyiv’s Pechersk district.
In Kyiv, four apartment buildings and 20 cars were damaged, and a gas pipe was depressurized.
Two people were injured: a man was wounded and his child suffered an acute stress reaction.
In Zaporizhzhia, 8 people, including a child, were injured as a result of air strikes. 12 buildings were destroyed and damaged, including an apartment building.
At night, Ukrainian air defense destroyed 66 of 78 Shaheds and four missiles —Air Force
The following were shot down at night:
all four Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missiles (two more missiles of an unidentified type launched in the Sumy region were not shot down);
66 out of 78 attack drones (the location of another eight Shaheds was lost in several regions of Ukraine, one returned to the Russian Federation, and one was still in the Ukrainian sky at the time of the report). Amid the alarm over the MiG-31K takeoff, explosions were heard in Kyiv and the Khmelnytskyi region.
In the morning, the Air Force and the monitoring publics reported several Kinzhal missiles at the Khmelnytskyi region, probably towards Starokostiantyniv, where a military airfield is located.
On the morning of September 26, the occupiers fired 3 Kh-47 M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles towards Starokostiantyniv, Khmelnytskyi region. The Air Force stated that information about the strikes is not public.