The United States will act swiftly to provide new military assistance to help Kyiv in its battle against Russia's invasion, President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a call.
The US House of Representatives last week greenlighted a huge and long-delayed foreign aid package that included $61 billion (€57bln) for war-torn Ukraine, and theUS Senate is expected to follow suit.
According to a White House readout, Mr Biden underscored America's "lasting commitment" to Ukraine "as it defends its freedom against Russian aggression".
Mr Biden told Mr Zelensky the United States will "quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine's urgent battlefield and air defense needs" as soon as the Senate passes the aid package and Biden signs it into law."
The Senate is expected to take up the measure, which has bipartisan support, on Tuesday.
"President Biden also underscored that the US economic assistance will help maintain financial stability, build back critical infrastructure following Russian attacks, and support reform as Ukraine moves forward on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration," the readout said.
Mr Zelensky posted on social media that he thanked Biden during the call for his "unwavering support" for Kyiv.
Mr Biden "assured me that he will sign the bill immediately as soon as it is approved by the Senate," Ukraine's president said.
Mr Zelensky said Mr Biden told him the weaponry and other hardware provided in the upcoming military aid package "will be powerful, strengthening our air defense as well as long-range and artillery capabilities."
Mr Zelensky also said the leaders discussed the latest strikes in "Russia's air terror," including bombardments by Moscow's forces which toppled a major television tower in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv minutes before the two men spoke.
Meanwhile in an interview published today, Ukraine's head of military intelligence said the situation on Ukraine's frontline is likely to steadily deteriorate in coming weeks.
His assessment comes as outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces struggle to hold back Russian troops, who have gained ground in recent months and are expected to soon step up their offensive.
"In our opinion, a rather difficult situation awaits us in the near future," Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC's Ukrainian service.
"But it is not catastrophic, and we need to understand that. Armageddon will not happen, as many people are now saying," he said.
"But there will be problems starting from mid-May. I am talking about the front in particular ... It will be a difficult period in mid-May, early June," Mr Budanov said.
Russia has in recent weeks regularly claimed new gains in eastern Ukraine.
Russia's defence ministry today claimed its troops had seized the village of Novomykhailivka, some 20km away from Vuhledar, which Russian forces have been trying to capture.
It announced other gains near the eastern town of Chasiv Yar over the weekend.
Taking control of Chasiv Yar's strategic heights would open the road for Russia to other important towns in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky has said Russian forces want to capture Chasiv Yar by 9 May, when the Kremlin marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Ukraine has for months struggled with a growing ammunition shortage but that is expected to improve in the coming weeks.
Following the vote in the US House of Representatives, I spoke with @POTUS Joe Biden, who assured me that he will sign the bill immediately as soon as it is approved by the Senate.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 22, 2024
I appreciate President Biden's unwavering support for Ukraine and true global leadership.
I also… pic.twitter.com/liRv0iTf6O
Norway, proportionally one of the largest donors to Ukraine, is now considering a "significant increase" in aid, the Nordic country's foreign minister said.
"We're talking about significant increase, I mean that is really relevant also compared with what we've done so far," Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told an Oslo press briefing.
The minister, who visited Ukraine last week, added that they had not yet decided on a precise sum.
Meanwhile the broadcasting signal was disrupted to Ukraine's second largest city today after a 240-metre television tower broke in half and fell to the ground, footage obtained by Reuters showed.
Local officials in Kharkiv said it was likely a Russian missile attack on television infrastructure.
"At the moment there are interruptions to the digital television signal," regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
There were no casualties because workers were in shelters, he added.
Footage from the scene showed the main mast of the tower breaking off and falling down as a cloud of smoke rose into the sky.
It was not clear from the footage what had hit the mast, but Kharkiv prosecutors said Russia had likely used a cruise Kh-59 missile in the attack.
The video was verified by corroborating video from another angle showing the same moment the top of the tower collapsed.
Russia first attacked Kharkiv's television tower several times in early March 2022 soon after it launched its full-scale invasion.
Kharkiv and the surrounding region have experienced the most intense missile strikes in recent weeks.
In the southern city of Kherson, officials said Russian shelling wounded two people while the interior ministry said a man was wounded in Selydove, a town in the Donetsk region.
Russia claims second gain in two days in Ukraine's Donetsk region
The apparent attack came hours after the head of Ukraine's military intelligence said the situation was worsening at the front, and Russia announced the capture of Novomykhailivka, a village around 20 kilometres away from Vugledar, which Russian forces have been trying to capture.
Novomykhailivka is the second advance Russian forces have announced in two days.
Reuters could not independently verify the Russian gain.
Ukraine's General Staff said in its regular morning report that their forces continued to hold back Russian attempts to advance near the village.
While Russia's defence ministry said in a statement that its southern group of forces had fully taken Novomykhailivka "and improved the tactical situation along the front line".
Russia said yesterday that it had taken control of the settlement of Bohdanivka, further to the north.
Bohdanivka lies northeast of Chasiv Yar, a strategic town located on high ground which, if captured, could open up the way for Russia to advance on several "fortress cities" in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has a force of 20,000-25,000 troops trying to storm the eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar and surrounding villages, Ukraine's military said, describing the situation in the area as difficult.
Kyiv's top commander has said Russia wants to capture the town by 9 May when it marks Soviet Victory Day in World War II, a patriotic Russian holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany.
"The situation around the town is difficult, however the situation is controllable... Our defenders are both receiving reinforcement and stabilising the line," said Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesman for the eastern military command.
Russia has already been inching forward, but long-delayed US military assistance is expected to reach Ukraine relieving critical ammunition shortages in a matter of days following its expected final approval this week.
"It is difficult for our soldiers, but receiving the necessary assistance will even out the situation," Mr Zelensky said on Telegram.
The Russian gains, if confirmed, underline the urgency for Ukraine of taking delivery of more freshly approved US military aid. It is expected to be approved this week by the Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden.
Mr Zelensky urged the US yesterday to quickly turn the bill into law and proceed with the actual transfer of weapons, saying long-range arms and air defence systems were top priorities.
In response, Russia said today that the new US aid would not change the situation on the front lines.
The influx of weapons should improve Ukraine's chances of averting a major Russian breakthrough in the east, military analysts said, but Ukraine still faces manpower shortages on the battlefield.
