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Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day on Monday, celebrating the Soviet Union’s World War II triumph over Nazi Germany with a grand display of military might and an address from Moscow’s Red Square.
Putin linked his war in Ukraine with that historic struggle in a speech that blamed the West for the conflict but included no new escalations.
Progress in Ukraine has eluded Putin, with Russian forces devastating but far from defeating the country in a war that has ground on for more than two months.
In Mariupol, a key port city, the final civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant where the city's last Ukrainian defenders have held out under fire and siege, frustrating Moscow's efforts to secure what would be a crucial strategic and symbolic victory. Meanwhile, at least 60 people were feared dead after an airstrike on a school where people were sheltering in an eastern Ukraine village.
In Washington, President Joe Biden signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, which resurrects a World War II-era program and is aimed at quickly getting military support to Ukraine.
Biden also asked congressional leaders to separate Ukraine aid from Covid-19 relief to avoid partisan opposition.
Nearly 6,000 Ukrainians approved to enter the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security has approved nearly 6,000 Ukrainians to enter the U.S. through an online application system that lets them gain legal authorization to fly to U.S. airports and then stay with Americans who have agreed to sponsor them, the agency said Monday.
The online portal, known as Uniting for Ukraine, launched April 25 as part of President Joe Biden’s stated goal to bring 100,000 people fleeing Russia’s deadly invasion to the U.S.
The launch of the website meant the closing of a popular but dangerous and illegal route many Ukrainians had taken via the U.S.-Mexico border, where, after having entered Mexico on tourist visas, they were transported from camps in Tijuana into California. After April 25, U.S. Border Patrol officers began turning back Ukrainians trying to cross the southern border.
Ukraine's ambassador to U.S. to meet with Republican legislators
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States is expected to meet with Republican legislators as Congress weighs an aid package to the embattled nation was not certain.
Oksana Makarova was scheduled to attend lunch with Senate Republicans Tuesday afternoon, two sources with knowledge of the event told NBC News.
As her nation continued to fend off Russia's invasion, congressional Democrats are proposing a $40 billion aid package to boost Ukraine military and humanitarian resources.
It would best the $33 billion package proposed by the administration of President Joe Biden.
The House is scheduled to take up the legislation Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. aid has been crucial to the country's survival against one of the world's best-equipped militaries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Special Pulitzer citation awarded to journalists of Ukraine
The journalists of Ukraine were awarded a special Pulitzer Prize citation Monday, with the board saying they have been “doing honor to Ukraine and to journalists around the world.”
“The Pulitzer Board awards a special citation to the journalists of Ukraine for their courage, endurance, and commitment to truthful reporting during Vladimir Putin’s ruthless invasion of their country and his propaganda war in Russia,” the board wrote.
“Despite bombardment, abductions, occupation, and even deaths in their ranks, they have persisted in their effort to provide an accurate picture of a terrible reality, doing honor to Ukraine and to journalists around the world,” it wrote.
On Monday, the 2022 Pulitzer Prizes were announced. They include prizes for journalism as well as fiction, music, poetry and more.
Biden urges Congress to ‘immediately’ pass Ukraine aid, putting Covid funds on back burner
President Joe Biden is urging Congress to quickly pass Ukraine aid in a move that would prioritize assistance for Kyiv over new Covid relief funding for the U.S.
“I call on Congress to pass the Ukrainian Supplemental funding bill immediately, and get it to my desk in the next few days,” Biden said in a statement Monday.
Biden and Democratic leaders had hoped to move a coronavirus aid package alongside the Ukraine aid, using the Ukrainian assistance as leverage to secure additional Covid funding, but Republicans balked, saying they would not approve new money to fight the pandemic without a vote on the president’s decision to end a Trump-era border policy known as Title 42.
That left Biden and Democratic leaders little choice but to separate the two packages.
Biden signs lend-lease act for military aid to Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Monday signed a “lend-lease” act into law aimed at streamlining military support for Ukraine as it fights an attack Russia launched more than two months ago.
The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, passed by the House 417-10 in late April, revives the famous World War II-era program to provide military support to allies.
Biden signed the measure the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin marked Victory Day, which celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Biden called the war in Ukraine “Putin’s war” and said it was “once more bringing wanton destruction into Europe.”
“Every day, Ukrainians pay with their lives, and they fight along — and the atrocities that the Russians are engaging in are just beyond the pale,” Biden said. “And the cost of the fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is even more costly. That’s why we’re staying in this.”
White House says Putin 'perverting history'
WASHINGTON — The White House said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "perverting history" in his Victory Day remarks, in which he tried to justify his war in Ukraine.
“The day is supposed to be about celebrating peace and unity in Europe and the defeat of Nazis in World War II," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. "That is what is celebrated every year in Russia, as well.
"And instead, Putin is perverting history, changing history, or attempting to change it, I should say, to justify his unprovoked and unjustified war, which is responsible for catastrophic loss of life and immense human suffering.
"We’re continuing to do what we can to provide support for Ukraine at this pivotal moment, flowing security, economic and humanitarian assistance.”
Biden seeks to separate Ukraine aid from Covid relief funds
President Joe Biden has asked congressional leaders to separate Ukraine aid from Covid-19 relief to pass the former without the partisan opposition to pandemic relief, a congressional source said.
Democratic leaders had hoped to pass the two aid packages together, but Republicans said they would not allow Covid relief to pass without a vote on Biden’s decision to end Title 42, a Trump-era Covid restriction at the border.
The $39.8 billion Ukraine package Democrats hope to pass contains increases above Biden's request of $3.4 billion more for food and $3.4 billion more for additional drawdown authority for military equipment, two aides said. The original request from the Biden administration for Ukraine aid had been $33 billion.
Putin orders work on transactions with 'unfriendly' states
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered the creation of a working group on international payments whose tasks will include figuring out terms for transactions with “unfriendly” states.
Putin said in March that Russia, the world’s largest natural gas producer, would require countries it deems hostile to pay for fuel in rubles by opening accounts at Gazprombank and making payments in euros or dollars, to be converted into Russian currency.
Poland and Bulgaria refused to comply, and the Russian energy giant Gazprom cut them off last month. The Kremlin has said the same will happen to anyone else who rejects the new payment terms.
Russian offensive in Donbas region stuck in Ukrainian mud
The Russians have added extra battalions, but their offensive in the Donbas region is literally stuck in the mud, a senior U.S. defense official said.
“I would not characterize it as successful, not at all,” the official said. “There’s been a lot of back and forth on these small towns and villages. ... The Russians have not been able to make a lot of progress at all."
Vladmir Putin's forces have been stymied by stiff Ukrainian resistance and by the warming weather, which forces them to stick to paved roads rather than risk getting bogged down in the muddy countryside, the official said.
In addition, the official said, there have been reports that some frustrated Russian officers are not "obeying orders with full alacrity."
Russia has about 97 operational BTGs, or battalion tactical groups, in Ukraine, five more than last week.
