The United States is keeping up its support for Ukraine in their fight to beat back the ongoing Russian invasion of their country, which has already claimed the lives of thousands of civilians, including over 2,500 in Mariupol alone. Mariupol has been besieged by Russian forces, leaving the residents trapped there — who are in the hundreds of thousands — under consistent threat of bomb and missile attacks while having lost access to basic utilities like running water. An individual associated with the medical outreach organization Doctors Without Borders has stated that people have died in the city due to lacking necessary medicines. In other words, although Ukrainian forces have held back Russia’s invaders from making the more substantial gains they’ve been after, devastating impacts have still unfolded. President Biden commented as follows this Wednesday:
‘[Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] speaks for a people who have shown remarkable courage and strength in the face of brutal aggression — courage and strength that’s inspired not only the Ukrainians but the entire world. Putin is inflicting appalling, appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine — bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I mean, it’s god-awful… These are atrocities. They’re an outrage to the world. And the world is united in our support for Ukraine and our determination to make Putin pay a very heavy price. America is leading this effort, together with our allies and partners providing enormous levels of security and humanitarian assistance that we’re adding to today, and we’re going to continue to do more in the days and weeks ahead… What’s at stake here are the principles that the United States and the united nations across the world stand for. It’s about freedom. It’s about the right of people to determine their own future. It’s about making sure Ukraine never, will never be a victory for Putin, no matter what advances he makes on the battlefield.’
We will make sure Ukraine has weapons to defend against the invading Russian force.
We will send money and food and aid to save Ukrainian lives.
We will welcome Ukrainian refugees with open arms.
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 14, 2022
Biden subsequently outlined how the U.S. would be sending an additional $800 million in aid for Ukraine. As he explained it:
‘Now I’m once again using my presidential authority to activate additional security assistance to continue to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s assault: an additional $800 million in assistance. That brings the total of new U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $1 billion just this week. These are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them as they fight against this invasion.’
The equipment that is set to be transferred to Ukraine includes anti-aircraft and anti-armor systems, in addition to drones and small arms such as machine guns, Biden explained. Over 20 million rounds of ammunition were also set for transfer. Check out his remarks below:
