October 1, 2023 at 2:30 a.m. EDT
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Aid for Ukraine had been a key issue as the United States headed toward a narrowly missed government shutdown. House Republicans on Saturday pushed through a short-term bill to fund the government and avert a shutdown, and in the process excluded aid to Ukraine. Though the Senate ultimately approved the bill, the vote was at first delayed Saturday by Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), who expressed concern over the lack of additional aid to Ukraine.
A bipartisan group of Senate leadership members pledged to work in coming weeks on legislation that further funds Ukraine’s war effort. The group, led by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said in a statement Saturday that it supports “Ukraine’s efforts to defend its sovereignty against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s brazen aggression” and that it will continue “to provide critical and sustained security and economic support for Ukraine.”
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also said that the Senate would pursue a funding package for Ukraine “in very short order,” and that it may pass it as a stand-alone bill or as part of a larger funding package for the Defense Department.
Supporters of Ukraine had said that any failure to include aid would encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin and possibly lead European allies to pare back their support for the war. “Delays in aid to Ukraine will result in renewed assaults and attacks by Russia. The Kremlin will see it as a sign to apply more pressure. It means more Ukrainian deaths,” Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of Ukraine’s parliament who has lobbied U.S. conservatives to support funding for his country, had said before the funding bill was passed late Saturday.
Slovakia’s parliamentary election has the potential to complicate the Western response to Ukraine. Nearly complete results early Sunday showed that Robert Fico, a populist former prime minister whose campaign has been laced with pro-Russian and anti-American discourse, had defeated his progressive rival.
The Romanian army’s radar system detected “a possible unauthorized” breach of the country’s airspace, Romania’s Defense Ministry said. It added that the radar detected the possible breach after registering “groups of drones heading toward Ukrainian territory” near the border, and as Russia conducted “a new series of attacks on some targets in Ukraine.”
Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said police were deployed near the border where the potential breach was detected. The statement said residents there received warning alerts that were lifted later in the night. Romania began building some air-raid shelters near the Ukraine border after finding the suspected war debris earlier this month.
Putin celebrated Saturday as the Day of Reunification, marking one year since Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions. In a speech, he claimed that Ukrainians had chosen to “be with their fatherland” and that the annexation had complied with international norms. The annexation violated international law and was rejected by world leaders and the United Nations as unlawful. Only two countries, North Korea and Syria, have recognized the annexation as legitimate, the British Defense Ministry noted, saying, “The world has chosen to #StandWithUkraine.”
At least four explosions were heard overnight amid a rocket attack in Kharkiv, the city’s mayor said on Telegram. Ukrainian state media also reported the sound of explosions heard over Zaporizhzhia, as the country prepares to hold a national moment of silence Sunday morning to commemorate military members who have perished in the war.
A new round of Russian military conscription is slated to start Sunday, and it is expected to call up about 130,000 people, the country’s Defense Ministry said. It claimed that the conscription was not connected to the war in Ukraine. All men in Russia are required to serve in the military or perform equivalent training in higher education for at least one year between the ages of 18 and 27.
Ukraine said it held its first Defense Industries Forum alongside companies from 19 different countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, Denmark and others. In a speech late Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the forum produced several agreements on joint production, technology exchange and defense industry training with foreign companies. “Separately, and very thoroughly, we are developing the Ukrainian manufacturing of drones,” he said.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told the Telegraph on Saturday that he is considering allowing British trainers “into Ukraine” rather than relegating them to NATO bases outside the country. So far, NATO members have avoided deploying trainers into Ukraine for fear of escalating the conflict. “Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in country’ — not just training,” Shapps added. “But also we’re seeing BAE [a British defense firm], for example, move into manufacturing in country.”
The United States is the biggest financial supporter of Kyiv’s fight against Russia: Washington has committed more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including more than $43 billion in military aid, Ruby Mellen and Artur Galocha report in a visual look at U.S. spending during the war.
“These are off-the-charts numbers,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He likened the figures to U.S. commitments to European countries at the end of World War II. The Marshall Plan, when adjusted for inflation, came to about $150 billion over three years.
More than a year and a half into the conflict, U.S. public support for Ukraine funding is wavering, particularly among Republicans. Lately, some hard-right GOP members of the House have opposed sending more aid to Ukraine and in September made it a central issue in negotiations over a U.S. government spending bill.
Jeff Stein, John Hudson, Ellen Francis, Serhiy Morgunov, Justine McDaniel, Jacob Bogage and Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
