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Why U.S. held backmost immoderate weapons for Ukraine
The lawman commandant of Russia's navy, Major General Mikhail Gudkov, was killed by a Ukrainian rocket onslaught successful the far-western Russian metropolis of Kursk, a state-linked Russian quality outlet said connected Thursday.
Gudkov, who antecedently commanded a Russian marine portion progressive successful the ongoing penetration of Ukraine, died of injuries sustained successful the onslaught connected a subject medication building, according to the AiF website.
Russia's Ministry of Defense provided nary details, but confirmed that Gudkov died "during combat operations successful 1 of the borderline areas of the Kursk region."
An representation shared by Russia's Ministry of Defense shows Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the lawman commandant of the Russian navy, whom the ministry said was killed during combat with Ukraine connected July 2, 2025, successful the occidental Russian metropolis of Kursk.
Telegram/Russian Ministry of Defense
Ukrainians saw it arsenic a boost to morale astatine the extremity of a hard week. The Trump medication said Tuesday that it had paused immoderate weapons deliveries to Ukraine, prompting alarm successful Kyiv, uncertainty among America's NATO allies, and immoderate crowing from Moscow.
The White House did not corroborate which weapons were being pulled from delivery, oregon the standard of the simplification successful U.S. subject enactment for Ukraine.
The announcement came astir a week aft President Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a NATO acme successful the Netherlands. Speaking aft their meeting, Mr. Trump said helium was considering sending further Patriot rocket batteries to Ukraine to assistance fortify the country's aerial defenses against Russia's bombardment.
"They bash privation to person the anti-missile missiles … the Patriots," Mr. Trump told reporters aft his gathering with Zelenskyy, "and we're going to spot if we tin marque immoderate available." He added that the Patriots were, "hard to get."
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said it invited U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission successful Kyiv John Ginkel to the ministry connected Wednesday to accent that "any hold oregon procrastination successful supporting Ukraine's defence capabilities would lone encourage" Russia to proceed its war, alternatively than to question the bid that Mr. Trump has said galore times helium wants to assistance usher.
President Trump said successful a Thursday greeting station connected his Truth Social media level that helium would talk aboriginal successful the time with Russian President Vladimir Putin connected the phone.
"Ukraine has not received immoderate authoritative notifications astir the suspension oregon revision of the transportation schedules of the agreed defence assistance, truthful we proceed from the existent information and cheque the details of each constituent successful the delivery," Ukraine's Defense Ministry said successful a statement Wednesday.
Zelenskyy said successful a video statement that Ukraine was seeking to clarify details of immoderate alteration successful defence enactment from the U.S.
CBS News' Margaret Brennan reported Thursday that Mr. Trump and Zelenskyy were to clasp a telephone telephone connected Friday to sermon the warfare aft the announcement of the simplification successful U.S. weapons deliveries.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized the urgency of sustained subject backing successful a social media post, saying "the lone mode to unit Russia to extremity the warfare is to summation unit connected Moscow and fortify Ukraine."
Moscow's absorption was besides swift, and decidedly much optimistic. Chief Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the quality from the White House, "a logical and overdue step," suggesting that Western fatigue with the warfare successful Ukraine would lone grow.
"The little weapons are supplied to Ukraine, the person the extremity of the Special Military Operation is," Peskov said, according to TASS, utilizing the Kremlin's word for the warfare that Russia started with its full-scale penetration connected Feb. 24, 2022.
Severely damaged residential buildings are seen successful Kyiv, Ukraine, aft a nonstop onslaught by a Russian missile, June 17, 2025.
ORI AVIRAM/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged during the acme past week that the Trump medication needed to prioritize U.S. weapons inventories, but helium stressed that Ukraine depends heavy connected American hardware — particularly ammunition and aerial defence systems — and helium urged Washington to stay flexible, and called connected Europe's NATO members to summation contributions for Ukraine.
"It's a wide connection to measurement up our ain support," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters this week, "ramping up our European defence capacities, not lone astatine the level of the European Union, but astatine the continental level."
Kyiv and respective different large Ukrainian cities person faced an escalating barrage of rocket and drone attacks implicit the past month, sometimes overwhelming the country's aerial defence systems and causing important civilian casualties and infrastructure damage.
Over the weekend, Russia launched what Ukrainian officials called the biggest aerial onslaught of the war, hitting vigor facilities, residential areas and subject infrastructure successful a coordinated onslaught involving dozens of missiles and Iranian-made onslaught drones.
Ukrainians accidental the surge successful airstrikes has underscored their request for strengthened aerial defenses.
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