Zelensky thanks US for security package

A UN aid convoy reached Ukrainian-held areas close to the eastern town of Soledar on Friday morning, UN spokesperson Jens Laerke said. 

The vehicles in the convoy are delivering food, water, hygiene kits and medical supplies to the more than 800 people who remain there and are “in dire need of humanitarian assistance,” Laerke told a press briefing in Geneva on Friday.

“Our colleagues in Ukraine have this morning local time reached government-controlled areas close to Soledar in eastern Donetsk Oblast with a three-truck humanitarian convoy to support over 800 people who remain in communities surrounding Soledar,” Laerke said. 

Some context: The situation in Soledar remains unclear, as CNN has reported. Last week, Russia claimed it had taken the small town of Soledar following weeks of fierce battles, but Ukraine denied the claim.

Laerke said the UN had given advance notice to both Ukraine and Russia of the convoy’s arrival.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley pictured during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on January 20, in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has denied that the country’s decision to potentially send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine is tied to whether the United States makes a similar move and sends M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

When asked about the issue during an interview with German public broadcaster ARD Thursday, Pistorius said he was “not aware of such an arrangement.”  

According to Pistorius, no decision has been made as to whether Germany will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The defense minister told reporters on the sidelines of a high stakes defense meeting at Ramstein Airbase on Friday that “we all cannot say today when a decision will be made and what that decision will be on Leopard tanks.”

Some background: German and US officials have been stuck in a deadlock over whether to send tanks following numerous appeals from Kyiv’s leadership. CNN reported Friday that German officials indicated they won’t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine or give permission to any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv. 

“If America will decide that they will bring battle tanks to Ukraine, that will make it easier for Germany,” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck told Bloomberg from Davos on Tuesday.

“They have us over a barrel,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN Thursday, adding that the Germans are demanding tanks for tanks, and not budging on considering any other offers the US has made to spur Berlin to send the Leopards.

However, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit denied these claims Friday. “It’s hard for me to imagine a German chancellor dictating any conditions to an American president or making any demands.” 

The spokesperson added that Germany deems it “important” that Ukraine’s allies “act in a very unified and joint manner,” especially when it comes to the delivery of battle tanks. 

With previous reporting from CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood and Oren Liebermann 

Ella Pamfilova, chairwoman of the Russian Central Election Commission, at the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Russia in Moscow on September 11.

The organization responsible for conducting federal elections in Russia has begun preparations for a presidential vote next year, said Ella Pamfilova, the Central Election Commission chairman. 

“We are laying it out now with an eye on the presidential campaign, because we understand what the presidential elections are in the current conditions,” Pamfilova told journalists Friday, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Russia is expected to hold the presidential election in the spring of 2024. The current head of state, President Vladimir Putin, has not yet announced his decision to participate.

Some background: Putin has been in power for a long time. He served as president from 2000-2008, and then, a job swap with his then prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, in 2008, allowed him to return to the presidency in 2012. He has been serving since then. He would have been obliged by law to step down after this term, which ends in 2024, but he signed a law in 2021 that paved the way for him to run for two more presidential terms, potentially extending his rule until 2036.

The United States will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Friday. He is meeting NATO partners in Germany to discuss military aid for Kyiv. It comes as Washington is stuck in a standoff with Berlin over whether to send tanks to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made another desperate plea to send more weapons to Kyiv without delay, warning that “hundreds of thank you are not hundreds of tanks.”

Here are some of the latest developments:

• US to send armored vehicles: The Pentagon announced a $2.5 billion Ukraine security package on Thursday, including for the first time Stryker armored vehicles and more Bradley fighting vehicles that could be used against any potential Russian offensive in Ukraine this spring.
• US intel chief briefs Zelensky: CIA Director Bill Burns briefed Zelensky in Kyiv last week on the US’ expectations for Russia’s battlefield planning in the spring, according to a US official and two Ukrainian sources familiar with the meeting.
• Finland promises heavy artillery to Ukraine: Finland has pledged a fresh €400 million ($434 million) in defense aid to Ukraine, its largest package to date.
• Russia claims troops occupy small Ukrainian village: Moscow-backed leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine have claimed that Russian troops have taken control of the small settlement of Klishchiivka, a few miles southwest of Bakhmut.
• Russian missile strike hits Kramatorsk: At least one person has died after three missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Friday morning, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on national television.

Russia’s defense ministry said that its troops have captured the small settlement of Klishchiivka, near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.

“In the Donetsk direction, the volunteers of the assault detachments, with fire support from operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops and artillery of the Southern Military District, liberated the settlement of Klishchiivka of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” it said in a statement Friday.

CNN cannot independently verify the claim. The Moscow-backed leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic had made the same assertion earlier on Friday.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the mercenary group Wagner, claimed credit for capturing Klishchiivka on Thursday. Prigozhin said in a statement published by his holding company that the settlement had been captured “exclusively by units of the Wagner Group.”

Klishchiivka is a few miles southwest of the city of Bakhmut, where both sides have been locked in a fierce battle for months. Prigozhin said Klishchiivka was “one of the important suburbs” to capture near Bakhmut. 

Fighting around Bakhmut has eased slightly as Russian forces focused their efforts on the nearby town of Soledar. If the battle there is in its final stages, it’s widely assumed the Russians will renew their push to take Bakhmut.

Read more on Bakhmut:

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns prepares for a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on worldwide threats, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington D.C., on March 10.

CIA Director Bill Burns briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last week on the US’ expectations for Russia’s battlefield planning in the spring, according to a US official and two Ukrainian sources familiar with the meeting.

The secret meeting comes as US officials are closely monitoring a potential Russian offensive in the coming months – and in the midst of a fraught debate between the US and its European allies over whether to send increasingly sophisticated and long-range weaponry to Ukraine. Western defense leaders are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss further weapons shipments to Ukraine.

“Director Burns traveled to Kyiv where he met with Ukrainian intelligence counterparts as well as President Zelensky and reinforced our continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” a US official said in a statement.

Burns, a veteran diplomat, has become a trusted interlocutor in Kyiv, and last week’s trip was not his first. He made two known back-to-back trips to Kyiv in October and November of last year, including one that took place amid a spate of Russian missile strikes across the country.

Read the full story:

Germany has a “fundamental problem” with the idea of sending its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Poland’s deputy foreign minister said in a radio interview Friday morning.

Pawel Jablonski told the RMF FM radio talk show: “Less and less countries today have problems with the transfer of tanks. Today, Germany has a fundamental problem.” He said Poland and other countries were “trying to convince” Berlin to agree to send the tanks to Ukraine.

“We have been hearing such stories for a long time, that if we hand over some weapons to Ukraine, then we will provoke Putin. But he acts in such a way that only hard power can stop him,” Jablonski said.

Some background: This comes as the US is stuck in a standoff with Germany over whether to send tanks to Ukraine. In recent days, German officials have indicated they won’t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv – something the Pentagon has said for months it has no intention of doing given the logistical costs of maintaining them.

Police officers inspect a crater left by a missile strike in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on January 20.

At least one person has died after three missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Friday morning, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on national television. 

The missiles hit “a kindergarten, one of the schools in Kramatorsk and a private health center,” Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said.

“The necessary measures were taken in advance. Both children and teachers were moved to other places in advance,” he added. “Thus, fortunately, we managed to avoid more dire consequences that could have occurred.” 

All students in the Ukrainian-held parts of the Donetsk region currently study online, Kyrylenko noted. 

He said between 75,000 and 77,000 people live in Kramatorsk today, compared to the approximately 205,000 permanent residents before Russia attempted to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov attends the meeting of the ‘Ukraine Defense Contact Group’ at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, on January 20.

The Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov has laid out his country’s priorities for a meeting in Germany Friday where Kyiv’s allies will discuss sending more weapons to Ukraine.

“There are three priorities of Ukraine at #Ramstein … More air defence systems … Weapons for the offensive operations (tanks, howitzers, ammo) … Systematic ammo supplies [and] service [and] repair for armament and machinery,” he said in a post on Twitter.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that any new deliveries of heavy weapons to Kyiv “will not change anything” in regards to Russia achieving its goals in Ukraine.

His comments come as NATO partners gather in Germany Friday for a key meeting focusing on military aid for Kyiv.

“The consequences will be with a minus sign, definitely. We have repeatedly said that such deliveries will not fundamentally change anything, but will only add problems to Ukraine,” Peskov said during his daily call with journalists.

He added that the importance of weapons deliveries to Kyiv “should not be exaggerated in terms of the ability to change something.”

“All these tanks need both maintenance and repair, and so on and so forth, so this will add problems to Ukraine, but will not change anything in terms of the progress of the Russian side in achieving its goals,” Peskov said.

This comes a day after the Pentagon announced a $2.5 billion Ukraine security package, including for the first time Stryker armored vehicles and more Bradley fighting vehicles that could be used against any potential Russian offensive in Ukraine this spring.

Peskov added that Russia will “closely monitor” the situation related to US attempts to convince Latin American countries to transfer weapons to Ukraine.

According to Peskov, Moscow has “no hope” of improving relations with Washington in the foreseeable future, adding that bilateral relations “are now probably at their lowest point historically.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base on January 20, in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged countries to send more weapons to Ukraine without delay, warning that “hundreds of thank you are not hundreds of tanks.”

In remarks during a virtual address at the beginning of a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany, Zelensky said the results of the unity and support of allies are seen on the battlefield in Ukraine but asked, “do we have a lot of time?” 

“No, terror does not allow for discussion, the terror which burns city after city, becomes insolent when […] defenders of freedom run out of weapons against it. The war started by Russia does not allow delays and I can thank you hundreds of times and it will be absolutely just in fear given all that we have already done,” he said.

“But hundreds of thank you are not hundreds of tanks. All of us can use thousands of words in discussions but I cannot put words instead of guns that are needed against Russian artillery or instead of anti-aircraft missiles that are needed to protect people from Russian airstrikes,” he said.

Zelensky said he is “truly grateful” for the weapons allies have provided so far, but “time remains a Russian weapon.”

“Every unit helps to save our people from terror. But time – time remains a Russian weapon. We have to speed up. Time must become our common weapon, just like air defense and artillery, armored vehicles and tanks, which we are negotiating about with you,” he said.

Some background: This comes as the US is stuck in a standoff with Germany over whether to send tanks to Ukraine. In recent days, German officials have indicated they won’t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv – something the Pentagon has said for months it has no intention of doing given the logistical costs of maintaining them.

Read more on this:

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, and the Ukrainian participant Oleksii Reznikov, right, attend the meeting of the ‘Ukraine Defense Contact Group’ at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein, Germany, on January 20.

Russia is “running out of ammunition and suffering significant battle losses,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Friday at a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany.

Austin said Moscow is now “turning to its few remaining partners to resupply its tragic and unnecessary invasion, but even Iran and North Korea won’t admit that they are supplying Russia.”

“Just compare that to the groundswell of support for a free and sovereign Ukraine represented in this room,” Austin told delegates Friday.

Some background: Iran has previously denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying it “has not and will not” do so, following claims by Kyiv and US intelligence that Russia is using Iranian-made “kamikaze drones” in its attacks on Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, the US has previously accused North Korea of secretly supplying Russia with artillery shells for the Ukraine war by concealing where they are being transported to, according to declassified intelligence.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, second left, meets with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, fourth left, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, fifth left, and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, third left, to discuss how to help Ukraine defend itself, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on January 20.

The US will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” as Kyiv and the world are facing a “decisive” moment, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Friday.

“This is a decisive moment for Ukraine in a decisive decade for the world, so make no mistake we will support Ukraine self-defense for as long as it takes,” Austin said in his opening remarks at a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany.

“Now, we know that Russia remains bent on aggression and conquest. And Russian forces have increased their horrific attacks, killing many innocent Ukrainians. We saw the cruelty of Russia’s war choice again just a few days ago in the city of Dnipro,” he said.

Austin added that it is “time to dig deeper” as Russia regroups.

“The US remains determined to lead and to do our part to help Ukraine defend itself,” Austin added.

“Russia’s attacks are designed to break the spirit of Ukraine. But they have failed. And the people of Ukraine have inspired the world,” he said.

The Moscow-backed leaders of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine have claimed that Russian troops have taken control of the small settlement of Klishchiivka, southwest of Bakhmut.

Fighting around Bakhmut has raged for months, but has eased slightly as Russian forces focused their efforts on the nearby town of Soledar. If the battle there is in its final stages, it’s widely assumed the Russians will renew their push to take Bakhmut.

In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, they said: “As of January 20, 2023, Russian troops liberated Klishchiivka in the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic.”

CNN could not verify the claim.

Some background: Russia is the only country that considers the DPR independent. The international community does not recognize the region and its institutions, and considers the territory to be part of Ukraine. Independent watchdog groups have long accused the separatists of a dismal human-rights track record and ill-treatment of prisoners.

Finland has pledged a fresh €400 million ($434 million) in defense aid to Ukraine, its largest package to date.

“The combined value of all defense materiel packages submitted so far is now EUR 590 million ($637 million),” a statement from the country’s defense ministry said Friday.

The statement did not include the details of the package, citing security concerns.

A spokesperson for the defense ministry told CNN that the package does not include any Leopard 2 tanks.

Finland has previously donated heavy artillery and munitions to Ukraine, the ministry said.

The Scandinavian country will be one of more than 50 countries represented at a meeting hosted by the United States at its Ramstein air base in Germany Friday, where leaders will discuss ongoing support for Kyiv.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has come under pressure to donate Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Finland and Sweden, who last year applied to join NATO, will sign a “Statement of Intent on support for Ukraine” at the Friday meeting, according to the Finnish statement.

“The joint support to Ukraine is a sign of deep mutual trust and increasingly close defence cooperation between Finland and Sweden,” the ministry added.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday thanked US President Joe Biden and the American people for a fresh pledge of $2.5 billion in security aid.

The Pentagon announced the package on Thursday, including for the first time Stryker armored vehicles and more Bradley fighting vehicles that could be used against any potential Russian offensive in Ukraine this spring.

“Thank you @POTUS for providing [Ukraine flag] with another powerful defense support package worth $2.5 billion,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

“Stryker IFVs, additional Bradley APCs, Avenger air defense systems are important help in our fight against the aggressor. Thank you [US flag] people for unwavering leadership support!”

The package, publicized a day before an international coalition meets in Germany Friday to discuss more aid to Ukraine, is the second largest ever announced by the United States.

The US has now committed $26.7 billion to Ukraine in security aid since the beginning of the war nearly a year ago.

Dmitry Medvedev during the United Russia Party Congress in Moscow on November 23, 2019.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and key ally of President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday warned that defeat for Russia in Ukraine could lead to nuclear war.

The former Russian president made the threat in a Telegram post ahead of a key meeting of NATO allies and other nations, at which they are expected to make additional pledges of military support to Kyiv.

“The loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war,” Medvedev wrote.

“Nuclear powers do not lose major conflicts on which their fate depends.

“This should be obvious to anyone. Even to a Western politician who has retained at least some trace of intelligence.”

Medvedev, who served as president of Russia from 2008 to 2012, has struck a bellicose tone during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, repeatedly raising the specter of nuclear conflict.

Last April, he warned of Russian nuclear expansion should Sweden and Finland join NATO, and in September said strategic nuclear weapons could be used to defend territories incorporated into Russia from Ukraine.

His remarks Thursday, while no doubt intended to intimidate NATO partners, also appear to be a rare admission from a senior Russian official that the Kremlin could potentially lose in Ukraine as Moscow’s faltering invasion approaches the 11-month mark.

The nuclear rhetoric also comes just days after Moscow said it is planning to increase its armed forces due to the “proxy war” it says the West is waging in Ukraine.

On Friday, NATO’s Ukraine Defense Contact Group will gather in Germany for a meeting at the US’ Ramstein Air Base, hosted by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, focusing on more military aid for Ukraine. 

The Pentagon on Thursday announced a $2.5 billion Ukraine security package as the US and its European allies debate whether to send increasingly sophisticated weaponry to Kyiv, including longer-range missiles that would allow Ukraine to hit targets as far as 200 miles away.

Read more here.

The Biden administration is stuck in a standoff with Germany over whether to send tanks to Ukraine ahead of a key meeting of Western defense leaders in Germany on Friday.

In recent days, German officials have indicated they won’t send their Leopard tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country with the German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the US also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv — something the Pentagon has said for months it has no intention of doing given the logistical costs of maintaining them.

“They have us over a barrel,” a senior Biden administration official told CNN Thursday, adding that the Germans are demanding tanks for tanks, and not budging on considering any other offers the US has made to spur Berlin to send the Leopards.

The tank standoff comes amid a much larger debate between the US and its European allies over whether to send increasingly sophisticated weaponry to Ukraine, including longer-range missiles that would allow Ukraine to hit targets as far as 200 miles away.

The UK, Poland, Finland and the Baltic states have all been pushing for NATO members to provide heavier equipment to Kyiv amid what they believe is a key inflection point in the war. Both Ukraine and Russia appear to be gearing up for new offensives and there are signs that Moscow could be preparing an additional troop mobilization.

Last week, the British added pressure to their Western allies when they announced they would send 14 of their Challenger tanks to Ukraine. But Germany and the US were still opposed to the idea of sending their own tanks as of Wednesday.

Read the full story here.

Bill Burns during the Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, March 10, 2022.

CIA Director Bill Burns briefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last week on the US’ expectations for Russia’s battlefield planning in the spring, according to a US official and two Ukrainian sources familiar with the meeting.

The secret meeting comes as US officials are closely monitoring a potential Russian offensive in the coming months — and in the midst of a fraught debate between the US and its European allies over whether to send increasingly sophisticated and long-range weaponry to Ukraine. Western defense leaders are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss further weapons shipments to Ukraine.

“Director Burns traveled to Kyiv where he met with Ukrainian intelligence counterparts as well as President Zelensky and reinforced our continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” a US official said in a statement.

The Washington Post first reported the meeting.

Burns, a veteran diplomat, has become a trusted interlocutor in Kyiv, and last week’s trip was not his first. He made two known back-to-back trips to Kyiv in October and November of last year, including one that took place amid a spate of Russian missile strikes across the country.

The winter months have seen brutal fighting on the front lines, particularly around the city of Bakhmut, but no major strategic gains by either side. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, speaking at the Davos World Economic Forum on Wednesday, called it “not a stalemate but really a grinding conflict at this stage.”

Read more here.

“It just doesn’t make sense” for the US to provide M1 Abrams tanks “at this moment,” Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, said Thursday after German officials said they will not provide tanks to Ukraine until the US decides to do so as well.

“As you know we’ve provided the Bradleys, we’re seeing other nations step up and continue to provide equipment and material to Ukraine that they can,” Singh said.

“Ultimately this is Germany’s decision. It’s their sovereign decision on what security assistance they will provide. So we won’t be able to speak to them but I think that we are certainly doing what we can to support Ukraine in what they need.”

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is meeting with other allies on Friday in Germany during the eighth Ukraine Contact Group, where they will discuss what kind of equipment and weapons systems Ukraine may need in its fight against Russia. 

And while the issue of tanks is sure to come up, US officials have repeatedly said Germany can make its own decisions and the M1 Abrams’ maintenance and sustainment demands make it a difficult piece of equipment to provide to Kyiv. 

“[W]e’re continuing to work with other partners and allies around the world to see what else can be provided to Ukraine and that’s, that’s the whole point of tomorrow’s meeting,” Singh said Thursday.

Some context: There is growing pressure for Western allies to provide Ukraine with heavy battle tanks.

France, Poland and the United Kingdom have pledged to soon send tanks for the Ukrainian military to use in its efforts to protect itself from Russia. Finland is considering following suit.

Germany has said it would transfer infantry fighting vehicles to Kyiv but is yet to commit to sending tanks. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has insisted that any such plan would need to be fully coordinated with the whole of the Western alliance, including the United States.

The Western allies are set to meet tomorrow at the US Ramstein air base in Germany to discuss further military aid for Kyiv.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on April 27, 2022.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said there has been a “dramatic reduction” in the number of Ukrainian staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since Russian forces occupied the facility and the nearby city in March 2022.

The UN nuclear watchdog chief said at a media briefing in Kyiv that “normally a facility like this has around 10,000 people working and now we are down to 3,000, more or less.”

He added that the number was adequate in the current conditions, because the plant was operating at a low level. “But of course it is a matter of concern,” he said.  

He said the handful of IAEA staff at the plant were fine and are able do their work correctly.

“Very worried”: Grossi said despite difficulties throughout the conflict, Ukraine’s nuclear energy system had proved resilient.

“The good side [is that] almost a year since the beginning of the conflict on a territory with a vast nuclear infrastructure we have had very difficult moments when facilities have been operating in emergency mode and we saw the resilience of the system,” he said.

Even so, he explained the situation remained precarious and the IAEA was “very worried” about the Zaporizhzhia plant.

The plant has always been on the front line and on Thursday alone, there had been two major explosions in the vicinity of the facility, he said. 

“We know that a nuclear accident or an accident with serious radiological consequences is possible every day,” he said, noting that a protection zone around the plant was indispensable.

“Crying wolf”: Grossi said there was no sign Russia was attempting to link the plant to its own grid.  

Asked if Russia showed goodwill and cooperative spirit, Grossi said, “I have a professional engagement with them.” He said Russia had to comply with safety standards that had been agreed by everybody, and he planned to visit Russia soon.

Grossi said he was concerned the international community would pay less attention to the situation. “I worry that this is becoming routine … that people might be asking whether the IAEA was crying wolf,” he said.

The Pentagon announced a $2.5 billion Ukraine security package on Thursday, including for the first time Stryker armored vehicles and more Bradley fighting vehicles that could be used against any potential Russian offensive in Ukraine this spring.

The package, publicized one day before an international coalition meets in Germany to discuss more aid to Ukraine, is the second largest ever announced by the United States. The largest totaled more than $3 billion and was announced earlier this month.

The latest package includes 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers and 59 more Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. The previous package included 50 Bradleys — bringing the total given to more than 100.

The latest package also includes ammunition for the HIMARS rocket system that Ukraine has used to great effect against Russian weapons depots and command posts, as well as additional munitions and systems for aerial defense, which the Pentagon has identified as an ongoing priority.

The US has now committed $26.7 billion to Ukraine in security aid since the beginning of the war nearly a year ago.

Read more here.