Biden: Delaying Aid to Ukraine is almost ‘Criminal Neglect’; Meanwhile, russians still Rain Death upon Ukrainians

While Ukrainians are waiting and praying for American lawmakers to approve releasing as soon as possible urgent funding for Ukraine, the russians haven’t been wasting their time by humanely suspending raining death and destruction upon Ukrainians.

They have been continuing missile and drone attacks against Ukraine that have killed and wounded innocent, unarmed Ukrainian civilians, and destroyed their homes and cities.

The latest bloody target was the second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv in the east,

russian forces launched 45 drones over Ukraine earlier today in a five-and-a-half-hour barrage that killed at least seven people, officials said.

A russian drone strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, killed seven people overnight, including three children, Kharkiv region governor Oleh Syniehubov reported Saturday. Three others sustained injuries.

In a statement, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 40 of the Iran-made Shahed drones over nine different regions, including on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Kyiv.

The five-and-a-half-hour attack targeted agricultural facilities and coastal infrastructure, officials for Ukraine’s southern defense forces wrote on Telegram. They said that a strike in the Mykolaiv region had injured one person, sparked a fire and damaged nearby residential buildings.

Another person was injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region when a blaze broke out due to falling debris from a destroyed drone, said the head of the region’s military administration, Serhiy Lysak.

He said at least 10 drones were launched at Kharkiv, eight of which were shot down. Civilian infrastructure in the Nemyshlyan district of the city was hit, causing a massive fire that burned  15 private houses, he said.

Syniehubov said that an oil depot was hit, causing the fuel to leak out, which prompted the fire. In a Facebook post, Serhii Bolvinov, head of the investigative department of the National Police, cited a local resident as seeing “a true hell: first the fuel flowed, then everything caught fire.”

Bolvinov said a family of five — including children aged 7, 4 and nine months — burned alive, trapped in their house as the fire raged. Two other adults were killed by the blaze in another house that burned down, he said.

This is not a rare occurrence but rather a regular tactic by russians to demoralize the people and throw fear into the hearts of children, compelling them to seek solace in their parents by asking “are we going to die.” Try consoling your child every time the air raid siren wails.

Sadly, the death of scores of Ukrainian civilians has not coerced lawmakers in Washington, DC, to release some $60 billion of humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, which would assist Kyiv in subduing russian slaughter of civilians and expelling them from Ukraine. In the past few days, the mood swung in both directions regarding allowing American support. It has moved toward the positive side though the few stubborn holdouts are keeping the money tied up in America while innocent Ukrainian civilians die.

As an increasing number of Republicans oppose US aid to Ukraine, the Senate’s leaders are arguing in strong terms that the money is crucial to pushing back against Russia and maintaining America’s global standing.

In the Capitol for a rare weekend session, the Senate voted again to move forward with the assistance as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-NY) and Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both longtime supporters of Ukraine, issued stark warnings about the consequences of abandoning longtime US allies in Europe.

“Today it’s no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the world are on the United States Senate,” McConnell said. “Our allies and partners are hoping that the indispensable nation, the leader of the free world, has the resolve to continue.”

Schumer said that if America doesn’t assist Ukraine, “Putin is all too likely to succeed.”

“The only right answer to this threat is for the Senate to face it down unflinchingly by passing this bill as soon as we can,” Schumer said before the vote.

President Biden said Friday that a Republican holdup on sending new US aid to Ukraine for its existential war with russia was “close to criminal neglect” as he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about US and Europe’s efforts to maintain support for Kyiv.

“Without the support of United States, and without the support of the European states, Ukraine will have not a chance to defend its own country,” Scholz said.

Meanwhile, Biden sought to use his meeting with the German leader to once again pressure Republicans to stand by its European allies. “The failure of the United States Congress, if it occurs, not to support Ukraine, is close to criminal neglect,” Biden said. “It is outrageous.”

Before the White House meeting, Scholz said that backing away from support for Kyiv would have consequences beyond Ukraine and could prove more costly to Western governments in the long run.

“Others around the world are watching closely to see whether these divisions can be exploited and whether disinformation campaigns can take hold,” Scholz wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Thursday. “We must prove them wrong by convincing citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that a Russian victory would make the world a far more dangerous place. It would also strain our budgets while putting the freedom and prosperity of each of us in peril.”

Indeed, this prediction has been made not only by Ukrainian officials but also leaders of the former captive nations of russian aggression as well as the European Union and NATO.

Republicans this week blocked a $118 bipartisan border package that had been tied to Ukraine funding and aid for Israel. The Senate on Thursday voted to begin work on a narrower package that would include roughly $60 billion for Ukraine and $35 billion for Israel, but doubts remained about whether it could win enough support from Republicans for passage.

The impasse has meant that the US has halted arms shipments to Kyiv at a crucial point in the nearly two-year-old conflict, leaving Ukrainian soldiers without ample ammunition and missiles as putin has mounted relentless attacks. The US has provided Ukraine with some $111 billion since putin launched his grinding invasion.

The Trump and GOP led opposition to helping Ukraine is raising fear levels in European leaders who are convinced that the ultimate battle between good and evil, America and russia is in the near future.

Germany, among others, must increase its military preparedness to be ready for a potential war with russia within the next five years, said the country’s highest ranking soldier, Gen. Carsten Breuer, in an interview with Welt Am Sonntag released on February 10.

NATO militaries have strengthened their capacity and preparedness since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has lasted more than 700 days. While the prospect of the war escalating to an all-out clash between the alliance and russia has so far been averted, there are concerns that the West has not truly accepted that it may still be a possibility.

Several NATO commanders and other alliance leaders have warned in increasingly stark terms in recent months about the dangers of such a war and what impact it could have across Europe.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in January that a war with Russia could occur within the next five to eight years, and a top German NATO general warned that russian missiles could likely target Germany in the event of such a conflict.

Breuer, whose official title is inspector general of the German Armed Forces, told Welt Am Sonntag that russia has both the military potential and intention to extend its aggression beyond Ukraine.

In terms of Germany’s support for Ukraine, which has significantly increased after a slow start in 2022, Breuer said that “I really can’t see that there is a conscious limitation of help anywhere.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also told German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag in an interview published on February 10 that while the West does not seek war with russia, we should still “prepare ourselves for a confrontation that could last decades.” Ironically, russia has the appetite for waging a war that could last for decades and centuries as is witnessed by its aggression against Ukraine.

Officials from NATO countries have voiced growing concerns about the alliance’s lack of preparedness for a conflict with russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Lt.-Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of the NATO Military Committee, said in January that civilians in NATO countries should be ready for the prospect of an all-out war with russia within the next 20 years.

The possibility of direct conflict with russia is likely dependent on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Western officials have said.

“If putin wins in Ukraine, there is no guarantee that russian aggression will not spread to other countries,” Stoltenberg warned. His prognostication supports what others have said about russian tanks rolling across eastern and western Europe.

NATO must improve its military capabilities, Stoltenberg said, adding that “deterrence only works if it is credible.”

In the case of russia, deterrence only keeps moscow at bay. Its disgraceful warlike mentality must be destroyed, and the country and nation must be defeated. The immorality of continuous russian wars and aggression against Ukraine and its people must end with victory for Ukrainians and the free world.

Ukrainian American voters, who remember different, pro-Ukrainian Republican lawmakers, will certainly remember this historic snub for a long time. Who lost Ukraine?