Ukraine updates: US aid to Kyiv hits Republican roadblock

The European Commission is looking at a proposal that would redirect some of the profits from Russia's frozen state assets toward Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Speaking at a news conference following an EU leaders summit, von der Leyen said frozen Russian sovereign assets were valued at some €211 billion (approximately $223.15 billion). She reiterated that the bloc wants Russia to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction.

Russian sovereign assets were frozen in March 2022 following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"We will present a proposal to find a way how to use the proceeds from those assets that are currently benefiting a limited number of financial institutions in the European Union," she said.

Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday the appointment of Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov as commander of the Russian aerospace forces.

Afzalov had been acting as the air force chief since the removal of General Sergei Surovikin from the role in August.

His appointment had been reported last week by Russian state-run news agencies RIA and TASS.

Oleg Tsaryov, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and pro-Russia figure, has been shot and wounded in a late-night attack in the Russian-annexed Crimea.

"Around midnight he was shot twice on the premises of the sanatorium where he lives," Tsaryov's family said on his Telegram account. "When the ambulance arrived, Oleg was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood."

Tsaryov is in intensive care, with Russia's top investigative body launching a criminal inquiry into the attempt on his life.

Tsaryov was reportedly in line to lead a puppet administration in Kyiv if Russia had succeeded in overthrowing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after its invasion. The former MP has denied the reports.

Tsaryov's shooting is the latest of several assassinations targeting pro-Moscow figures since the invasion in February 2022.

He was shot in Yalta in Crimea, where an address for him had been posted on a vast unofficial Ukrainian database of people deemed enemies of the country.

Germany has transferred to Ukraine a third IRIS-T air defense system, capable of protecting a medium-sized city against aerial attacks.

The system comprises three launchers, a radar sensor, a generator and the associated missiles.

Berlin's Defense Ministry said it was handed over this week. Kyiv will also receive spare parts and technical-logistical support for the defense system, as more Russian missile attacks are expected to target critical infrastructure and civilian population this winter. 

"We can be relied on and we are doing everything possible. This war will not be forgotten," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. The IRIS-T is "essential for the protection of Ukraine," he added.

 

European Union leaders underlined the bloc’s continued military support for Ukraine with supplies of weapons and ammunition.

"The EU will continue to provide strong support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes," a joint declaration from the 27 member states read.

EU top diplomat Josep Borrell had proposed to make a total of €20 billion ($21.1 billion) for military aid available from 2024 to the end of 2027, in addition to €50 billion in budget support, despite resistance from Hungary and Slovakia.

"I have the impression that we will decide what is necessary for Ukraine's financial stability," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after talks with his EU peers at a summit in Brussels. "And I don't think that the partly different concrete assessments will affect that."

EU leaders also backed work on a legislative proposal on how to use revenues from the management of Russian assets frozen in the bloc for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The EU’s commitment follows Joe Biden’s recent request to Congress for $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine, which is currently facing pushback from congressional Republicans.

Russia's Rosenergoatom on Friday said a Ukrainian drone attack ؅— it said was targeting the Kursk nuclear power plant — was intercepted.

"On the evening of October 26, an attack by three enemy unmanned aerial vehicles on the Kursk nuclear power plant was stopped. It did not affect the operation of the station," plant operator Rosenergoatom said in a statement.

The operator said that radiation levels around the facility were normal and power generation was functioning.

On Thursday Russia defence ministry said that air defenses had intercepted a Ukrainian drone over the Kursk region without giving any further details.

Ukraine did not immediately report on the report. 

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico set out conditions to give his backing for further finanical support to Ukraine.

Speaking at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday, Fico said he wanted "guarantees that European money (including Slovak) will not be embezzled."

The newly-appointed Slovak leader had threatened on Thursday to block any further European aid to Kyiv.

Fico said part of the aid earmarked for Ukraine should be spent on renewing Slovakia's infrastructure along its border with Ukraine.

A Russian missile struck a fire department in Kharkiv's Izium on Friday, injuring at least eight rescuers, Ukraine's interior minister said.

"The building itself and 13 pieces of equipment were also damaged," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on the Telegram app.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces intercepted five of six Shahed drones launched by Russia on the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Kherson, Ukraine's southern military command said.

There were no casualties, the authorities added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the European Union's strategy on the war in Ukraine on Friday, calling for an alternative plan.

Orban told the Hungarian state radio on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels that he doubts Ukraine will be achieve victory at the frontline and therefore saw no reason for Hungary to send its taxpayers' money to support Kyiv.

"Today everybody knows but they do not dare to say it out loud, that this strategy has failed. It is obvious that this will not work. ... The Ukrainians will not win on the frontline," he said, calling for an alternate strategy.

The EU's is due to decide to revise its already financially strained 2021-27 budget of €1.1 trillion ($1.1 trillion) — burdened by emergency COVID spending and the Russia's war on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian earlier came faced backlash from his EU peers over his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said meeting Putin amounted to "showing the middle finger" to Ukrainians.

Orban refuted the charges, saying he is "proud" of his contacts with Putin because "otherwise there will be no chance for peace."

"We would like to do everything to have peace. Therefore, we keep open all the communication lines to the Russians, otherwise there will be no chance for peace. This is a strategy, we are proud of it," Orbán told reporters.

Newly elected US House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed skepticism about providing additional money/funding to assist Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. 

President Biden met with Johnson to discuss a proposed $106 billion (€100.4 billion) aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

Afterwards, Johnson said Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed "to prevail in Ukraine," but argued that funding for Ukraine and Israel should be handled separately.

The speaker demanded more clarity on the US's Ukraine strategy and goals.

"We want to know what the object is there, what is the end game in Ukraine," Johnson said. "The White House has not provided that," he added.

At the same time, Johnson proposed a separate Republican bill to allocate $14.5 billion in aid to Israel.

"We must stand with our important ally in the Middle East and that's Israel," he said.