the American Senate debates the aid plan for kyiv; in Russia, a deputy defense minister arrested for corruption

This time, it should be a formality: the American Senate examined the aid plan for Ukraine on Tuesday, adopted on Saturday after long months of negotiations in the House of Representatives. This includes 61 billion dollars (around 57 billion euros) for Ukraine.

The vote expected Tuesday evening could finally take place on Wednesday, according to a parliamentary source at Agence France-Presse. Furthermore, an American source told CNN that the bulk of the equipment for Ukraine was already pre-positioned in storage facilities in Germany and Poland, which will reduce the time needed to get it to Ukraine. This source added that the shells would be among the first to be delivered.

Russia has threatened to intensify strikes against Western logistics centers and weapons storage bases.

The United Kingdom will significantly increase its spending on defense by 2030, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in Warsaw on Tuesday, while pledging to provide additional aid of 500 million pounds to the Ukraine (581 million euros).

Visiting Poland, Mr Sunak explained that this “greatest strengthening of national defense in a generation” was necessary when “an axis of autocratic states like Russia, Iran and China are increasingly working together to undermine democracies and reshape the world order”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked London for this help “which emphasizes maritime and long-range capabilities”.

A Russian deputy defense minister, Timur Ivanov, has been arrested for alleged corruption, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced on Tuesday, without providing further details.

According to the independent Dojd television channel, Mr. Ivanov was “responsible for the procurement of military products and oversaw the construction, reconstruction and renovation of Department of Defense facilities”, according to a message posted on Telegram.

For the second year in a row, Russia will limit its celebrations of the Soviet victory against Nazi Germany, a central part of the Kremlin’s patriotic narrative. In recent months, dozens of Ukrainian drone attacks have hit Russia. A terrorist attack took place on March 22 in a concert hall near Moscow, leaving 144 dead and hundreds injured.

Ukraine announced on Tuesday that it had suspended its consular services abroad for men aged 18 to 60, after the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, announced upcoming measures to return men to Ukraine old enough to fight.

kyiv, which has been fighting the Russian invasion for two years, is in dire need of soldiers, especially as the Ukrainian army is preparing for a new Russian offensive in the coming weeks or months.

A drone attack launched by Russia left nine people injured in Odessa, on the shores of the Black Sea. Nine people were injured, including four children. An attack also targeted kyiv, but all the drones were destroyed.