WASHINGTON
\nUnited States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced major new military aid worth more than $2bn for Ukraine and other European countries \u201cmost potentially at risk for future Russian aggression\u201d.
\nThe money is on top of a $675m package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armoured vehicles for Ukraine announced by defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday.
\nRussia ally Belarus has launched military exercises near its border with Poland. The drills will focus on \u201cliberating territory temporarily seized by the enemy\u201d and regaining control over border regions, the defence ministry said.
\nNorway has announced that it will give about 160 Hellfire missiles to Ukraine in addition to launching pads and guidance units.
\nNorwegian defence minister Bjorn Arild Gram said his country would also supply Ukraine with night vision equipment, adding that Kyiv had requested the weapons, AP reported.
\nIn a meeting of 40 allied defence departments at the Ramstein base in Germany, the minister said, \u201cThis is the weapon that Ukraine asked for, and it will come in handy in the fight against Russian occupying forces.\u201d
\nThe Ukrainian military has said it has ha recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in the northeastern Kharkiv region as part of a counter-offensive against Moscow\u2019s forces.
\nUkrainian \u201cmilitary units have penetrated 50 kilometres (31 miles) beyond the enemy lines. During active operations in the Kharkiv area, more than 20 settlements have been liberated,\u201d said Oleksiy Gromov, a senior official in the Ukrainian military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced major new military aid worth more than $2bn for Ukraine and other European countries \u201cmost potentially at risk for future Russian aggression\u201d. The money is on top of a $675m package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armoured vehicles for Ukraine announced by defence secretary Lloyd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-282344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n