The US-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems weapon

Monday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy on US Aid — “We Have Every Chance to Seize the Initiative”

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1731 GMT:

An 82-year-old woman has been killed Russian shelling of the village of Kozatske in Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

UPDATE 1716 GMT:

The US is preparing a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, the first sourced from the imminent bill for $60.8 billion in assistance, according to two US officials.

The package includes vehicles, Stinger air defense munitions, additional ammunition for HIMARS rocket systems, 155-mm artillery ammunition, TOW and Javelin anti-tank munitions, and other weapons for the frontline.

UPDATE 1700 GMT:

Russian forces have advanced about 5 km (3.1 miles) in the past 10 days in a narrow corridor in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Video online shows a Russian flag flying above the devastated village of Ocheretyne. The area is northwest of the town of Avdiivka, seized by the Russians in mid-February after an assault of more than five months.

The village once had 3,000 resident. A local road and rail hub – sits at the intersection of a network of defenses.

Ukraine’s regional military headquarters said the invaders had captured some buildings and taken over the southern part of the village. Admitting that the situation was difficult, it said the Russians were using an “entire arsenal of weapons” — including chemical weapons — “against our units”.

Russia is trying to bypass the northern flank of Ukraine’s recently-constructed forward line, including minefields and trenches.

Russia’s forces are within about 30 km (10 miles) of Pokrovsk, the main garrison city in the area which used to rotate soldiers and equipment.

Seeking to increase the pool available for conscription, Ukraine is suspending consular services for military-age men living abroad, except for those heading back to the country.

Ukrainian officials and military analysts believe Russia is pressing its offensive to seize territory before US military supplies, finally unblocked with the imminent passage of a bill for $60.8 billion in aid, arrive on the frontline.

To the north of Ocheretyne, a large Russian offensive with 20,000 to 25,000 troops is trying to capture the hilltop town of Chasiv Yar.

A Ukraine military spokesperson said on Tuesday, “The invaders are trying at all costs to capture the village of Ivanivske and the outskirts of Bohdanivka. [They seek] to break through toward Chasiv Yar where our soldiers, at the cost of titanic efforts, have been able to hold back the enemy for more than 24 hours and stabilize the situation in the area.”

UPDATE 0723 GMT:

A 240-meter TV tower in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine was snapped in half by Russia’s latest missile attacks on the country’s second city.

Communications officials said they are working to restore the television signal. They are urging residents of the region without digital television signal to use cable, online television, or the radio.

Russia is trying to break civilian resistance in the city of 1.3 million people, about 30 km (19 miles) from the border, with scores of fatalities from missile and drone strikes.

See also Ukraine War, Day 784: A Critical Situation in Kharkiv City

UPDATE 0711 GMT:

Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK estimated a cost of $350 million to recover lost capacity from Russia’s attacks on its thermal power plants.

Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk anticipates electricity shortages during peak periods in summer and winter because of the reduction of eight gigawatts in generation capacity.

DTEK facilities were attacked at least 10 times in March as Russia escalated its missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure. About 80% of DTEK’s thermal generating capacity was destroyed or damaged.

“We have six power plants. We will not rebuild one of them yet, because it is close to the front line and there is constant shelling. In addition, the only way to supply coal there has been destroyed,” Sakharuk said.

Last year, DTEK spent $110 million on recovery after Vladimir Putin’s “energy war” from autumn 2022 through spring 2023.

UPDATE 0656 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses downed 15 of 16 Iran-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight.

Nine civilians, including four children, were injured in Odesa in southern Ukraine as several residential buildings were damaged and set afire. UAVs were also downed over the Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Cherkasy regions.

Russia also fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles from the Belgorod region.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that Kyiv will receive long-range US-made ATACMS missiles, after a bill for $60.8 billion in American military aid finally passed in the House on Saturday.

Ukraine has long sought the ATAMCS (Army Tactical Missile Systems), valued for its firepower, speed of deployment, and accuracy. However, up to now the Biden Administration has provided a version limited to 165 km (102 miles) in range. The 300-km (186-mile) version has been withheld, with the Americans expressing concern that the Ukrainians would use them on targets inside Russia.

The House passed the aid bill 311-112 on Saturday, overcoming a 6 1/2-month blockade by Trumpists and hard-right Republicans. The Senate, which approved its version in mid-February, is expected to confirm final passage on Thursday. President Joe Biden can then sign the bill on Friday, and US weapons — some of them moved to European storehouses weeks ago — can then be sent for Ukraine’s resistance of the 26-month Russian invasion.

Zelenskiy said he spoke with Biden by phone on Monday, thanking the US President for support and leadership.

Four key priorities are sky protection, modern artillery, long-range capabilities, and the possibility of receiving American assistance packages as soon as possible.

And today we have a result: everything has been decided in the ATACMS negotiations for Ukraine. I am grateful to President Biden, Congress, and the entire United States.

The White House said Biden told Zelenskiy “that his administration will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental and he signs it into law”.

The UK added its own assistance package on Monday, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning that the Russians will “not stop at the Polish border” if they overrun Ukraine.

London’s aid includes 60 boats with offshore raiding craft and dive boats; more than 1,600 strike and air defense missiles; more than 400 vehicles, including 160 protected mobility “Husky” vehicles and 162 armored vehicles; nearly 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition. and £500 million ($617 million) in military funding.