Victory Chronicles
-DAY 113

CIVILIAN RESCUES IN LUHANSK

Above: Photo posted by World Central Kitchen on Instagram says, “Our amazing volunteers from Kyiv managed to evacuate 183 people from Severodonetsk & Lysychansk—and brought 400 WCK food kits for families stuck there. People are wearing jackets because they have been living in cold, damp basements as Russians bombard the city. #ChefsForUkraine 🇺🇦”

• Volunteers with vehicles are working madly around the clock to evacuate civilians from Lysychansk under a barrage of enemy shelling.  Volunteers are a collection of Ukrainians and foreigners who are using a variety of vehicles including home-made armored vans to reach about 40 thousand civilians still left in Lysychansk.  Local officials think that up to ten thousand civilians are trapped in Severodonetsk including five hundred sheltering in the Azot chemical plant.

RUSSIAN DEPRAVITY

Above: Thursday morning, Russians bombed the World Central Kitchen food train in eastern Ukraine destroying one wagon of food for people trapped in conflict. Chef Jose Andres tweeted, “This won’t stop us—our amazing Ukrainian WCK teams will keep feeding the people!” Photo via Jose Andres

ARM UKRAINE: US ANNOUNCES $1 BILLION ADDITIONAL MILITARY AID

Above: Western military aid keeps flowing but will it be fast enough and powerful enough to beat Russia back?  Photo via Al Jazeera

• In a phone call with President Zelensky, US President Joe Biden announced an additional $1 billion in security assistance for Ukraine.  Funding includes a $350 drawdown from the $40 billion congressional appropriation and $650 million from the US Security Assistance Initiative fund. The USAI was created in 2016 by the US Department of Defense to provide “training, equipment and advisory efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to more effectively defend itself against Russian aggression.”
• The main components of the new package are:
  • 18 Howitzers + 36k 155mm ammo + 18 tactical tow vehicles
  • HiMARS ammo
  • 4 tactical vehicles, spare parts
  • 2 Harpoon coastal defense systems

• • 1000s of encrypted radios, night vision devices, thermal vision devices
  • Funding for training, transportation and other costs

ARM UKRAINE: UKRAINE DEFENSE CONTACT GROUP

Above:  Left to right, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Mark Milley, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Wednesday.  Photo via Washington Times

• In opening remarks to the third meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contract Group, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin greeted top military brass from more than 45 countries as well as representatives of the EU and NATO. Ecuador, Georgia and Moldova joined for the first time.
• In a press conference following the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin detailed the new US $1 billion aid package and reported that additional aid coming from other countries includes MLRSs and ammo from Germany, helicopters and ammo from Slovakia.  Canada, Poland and the Netherlands pledged more artillery.

POWER TRIO VISIT KYIV

Above: EU power trio Italian PM Draghi, German Chancellor Scholz and French President Macron are expected to visit Kyiv today to reaffirm support and patch up relations. Photo via Guardian

• The leaders of Italy, Germany and France arrived in Kyiv on Thursday to express solidarity with Ukraine’s struggle against full-scale Russian invasion. The meeting is one day before the European Commission is expected to release its recommendations of Ukraine’s status as an EU candidate.
• French President Emmanuel Macron came from a tour of Romania and Moldova.  Mr Macron recently came under a barrage of criticism for his request to not humiliate the Kremlin despot and push for a negotiated truce. During a meeting with French and NATO troops in Romania, Mr Macron said, “We will do everything to stop Russia’s war forces, to help the Ukrainians and their army and continue to negotiate.”
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has likewise faced criticism for his hesitancy to arm Ukraine both from German stocks and in allowing other countries to provide German-made armaments. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Tuesday that peace talks needed to start soon but “on terms that Ukraine deems acceptable.”
• Ukraine fears that some allies will press for a quick end to the conflict due to economic pressures from home.  Ukraine is adamant that a premature settlement will reward Russia with control over more Ukrainian territory and will only temporarily delay the certainty of future Moscow armed aggression.

WESTERN BALKAN SUPPORT

Above: Left to right, Albanian PM Edi Rama, Montenegrin PM Dritan Abazovic and President Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday.  Photo via President of Ukraine

• Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama came to Kyiv Wednesday to show solidarity with Ukraine. Northern Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski joined by video. The three small Western Baltic countries issued a joint statement supporting Ukraine’s candidate status.  All three countries have obtained EU candidate status.