U.S. imposes new sanctions on Russia, announces new security assistance package for Ukraine on one-year anniversary of invasion
On Friday, February 24, the U.S. imposed sanctions against 22 Russian individuals and 83 entities. The sanctions also target Russia’s metals and mining sector, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
Today’s action “further isolates Russia from the international economy and hinders Russia’s ability to obtain the capital, materials, technology and support that sustain its war against Ukraine,” the statement reads. The latest tranche of Treasury Department sanctions hit a number of Russian banks, including the Credit Bank of Moscow, Lanta Bank, Metallinvestbank, MTS Bank, Levoberezhny Bank, Saint-Petersburg Bank, Primorye, SDM-Bank etc.
The State Department also sanctioned individuals and entities in Russia’s advanced technology sector. This includes firms that produce or import specialized, high-technology equipment used by Russian defense entities, including Innovation Center Skolkovo, Maxtech, Novilab Mobile, and Promtekhekspert.
On February 24, the one-year anniversary of the war, the U.S. unveiled a new USD two billion military aid package for Ukraine.
This package is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the U.S. Department of Defense said. The United States will procure capabilities rather than deliver equipment that is drawn down from the Department’s stocks.
Capabilities in this security assistance package include: additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); additional 155mm artillery rounds; munitions for laser-guided rocket systems; CyberLux K8 drones (UAS); Switchblade 600 UAS; Altius-600 UAS; Jump 20 UAS; counter-UAS and electronic warfare detection equipment; mine clearing equipment; secure communications support equipment; and funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.
Poland to send 60 tanks to Ukraine in coming days
Poland will soon send rest of promised Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Kyiv on Friday. Poland will also send 60 PT-91 Twardy tanks to Ukraine.
“Our instructors are impressed by how quickly the Ukrainian crews are mastering modern tanks,” Morawiecki said.
“We were able to transfer our tanks very soon… also in a few days we are delivering very good PT-91 tanks – 60 tanks will come to Ukraine,” Morawiecki told reporters.
He said he talked to the Prime Minister of Denmark. Denmark is considering sending tanks to Ukraine. Morawiecki said he also discussed the transfer of tanks with prime ministers of Sweden and Finland, and the German Chancellor.
He said he was happy that Spain will join the tank coalition. “Despite being far, Spain is well familiar with what’s happening in this part of the world.”
UN General Assembly adopts resolution in support of Ukraine
On the evening of February 23, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in a show of support with Ukraine and in support of the peace formula. The resolution passed by a vote of 141 to seven, with 32 abstentions. The resolution urges Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine. It calls for an international tribunal to hold to account those responsible for war crimes. The document mentions prisoner swap, liberation of prisoners, and return of the deported.
Podcast Explaining Ukraine. One year of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine – lessons and prospects | Ep. 195
One year has passed since Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine. In this episode, we draw lessons from this past year: the strength of Ukrainian society, its transformative power, its grassroots nature, as well as the weakness of Russian authoritarianism and its imprisonment in the past. We also analyze the global dimension of this war, discuss the stages of this full-scale invasion, and try to reflect on what we can expect in the near future. Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor of UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist, in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: one year anniversary. Ukraine in Flames #351
It is the one year anniversary of putin declaring a “special military operation” and russian army invading Ukraine with tanks and bombs. Ukraine withstood the attack, despite the fact that Western experts predicted a timeline from a few days to a few weeks before the fall of Kyiv and the full occupation of the country. Watch Ukraine in flames #351 to find out where Ukraine is standing after a year of a full-scale war and how this year united and strengthened a global coalition of democratic countries.
Guests:
- Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, People’s Deputy, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the European Union
- Valentyn Badrak, Director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies
- Mykhailo Sydorzhevsky, Writer, Chairman of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine