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International nuclear agency getting wider powers to probe attacks on Ukraine power plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been given additional authority to investigate the situation at a nuclear power plant that Russia has taken over during its invasion of Ukraine. 

Officials from the IAEA, which partners with more than a dozen organizations in the United Nations, will visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine soon, as world leaders have expressed concerns about the plant’s stability, Bloomberg reported Thursday. 

Two diplomats with knowledge of the visit told Bloomberg that the delegation will include security and safety authorities along with officials responsible for accounting for nuclear materials at the plant. Agency officials had previously only intended to ensure that uranium-rich stockpiles of material were not missing amid the six-month-long conflict. 

The safety and security officials will allow the agency to possibly perform a forensic evaluation of shelling that has occurred at the plant, Bloomberg reported. This evaluation could be used to hold attackers of the plant responsible for the damage it has received. 

The IAEA did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment. 

Russia took control of the plant, the largest in Europe, months ago, and Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for skirmishes and shelling that have occurred near it. 

President Biden discussed the need to protect the plant on a call on Sunday with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

Reuters reported last week that Macron said Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow IAEA officials to visit the plant. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that a “catastrophe” could happen if the plant is not properly defended, saying that any “radiation incident” could affect members of the European Union and other nearby and even more distant countries. 

Bloomberg reported that the IAEA wants the visit to happen before Sept. 5, when a two-week international mission was already planned to look into the safety systems of the plant. The mission, which was scheduled before the war began six months ago, would be the first safety evaluation at the plant in 16 years.

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats are on a roll: Here’s how to ride the wave to November

The 2022 primary season is finally waning down. With only a handful of races left to be decided, Democratic chances of keeping their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and winning key state and local races in November are growing, thanks to a strong field of highly qualified candidates with records of leadership and problem-solving who embrace moderate positions. 

In contrast, in several key states and races across the country, Republican primary voters have nominated far-right extremists who in many cases embrace defeated former President Donald Trump’s false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election and was robbed of victory by both Republican and Democratic state and local officials who rigged the election. 

Many of these radical Republicans have never run for office before and are less qualified for government positions than I am to be an NFL quarterback. Still, Democrats must become much more aggressive in talking to and motivating voters of all backgrounds to support them this fall. 

Here are a few of my recommendations to Democratic campaign managers and others working across the country.

First, take our campaigns directly to Democratic, Republican and Independent voters using GOTV, which stands for “Get Out the Vote” drives, not just “Go On Television.” Focus particular attention on people who often skip voting in midterm elections. The time to begin these voter drives is now, not two weeks before Election Day. We should remember that millions of people will start voting next month and many more will be voting absentee in October. Again, this is a big change from the pre-pandemic years.

Second, Democrats have positive cases to focus on, including the major achievements of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats in Congress, including:  

• The Inflation Reduction Act, which will reduce health insurance and prescription drug costs for millions of Americans, fight dangerous climate change, impose a minimum tax on multibillion-dollar corporations and crack down on wealthy tax cheats. 
•  The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that funded free COVID-19 vaccinations and treatments and sent checks to most Americans and many small businesses to help them cope with the pandemic. 
• The $1.2 trillion infrastructure law to improve America’s roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, ports, waterways and energy systems, all the while creating good jobs.  
• The most significant gun safety reforms in 30 years.
• On top of this, Biden issued an executive order Wednesday canceling $10,000 in student loan debt for individuals earning less than $125,000 a year or living in households earning less than $250,000 annually. People who received Pell grants for low-income students will get $20,000 in student loan debt canceled. Some 45 million people owe $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt. 

Third, remind voters that the disruption and deaths caused by the pandemic are easing, gasoline prices have plummeted by more than $1 a gallon since June, inflation is slowing, the unemployment rate is down to only 3.5 percent in July (the lowest since before the pandemic), supply chain bottlenecks are clearing up, Biden has rallied the world in support of Ukraine against Russian aggression and expanded the NATO alliance, and al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike ordered by Biden. 

Lastly, Democrats must draw attention to how millions of Americans would suffer if Republicans take control of one or both chambers of Congress or state houses because of the GOP’s radical positions of opposing the common sense solutions discussed above. It needs to be stressed that all of these accomplishments took place while Democrats held a razor-thin majority in the House and had to deal with an evenly split Senate. Under the circumstances, the Democrats’ legislative achievements are truly astonishing, but further progress will be impossible if Republicans make even minimal gains in November.

In primary races, Trump has attacked Republicans who might be able to win general election campaigns and thrown his support to sycophantic candidates who accept his Big Lie that he was reelected two years ago and shower him with praise. This has produced nominees popular with Trump’s base but not with the rest of the electorate.

Some Trump-endorsed candidates who have won their party’s nominations have said they would have refused to certify Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race and have given indications they would declare Trump the winner if he runs in 2024 regardless of what voters decide. They don’t just oppose Democrats; they oppose democracy.

In addition, some Republican nominees have called for ending entitlement funding for Social Security and Medicare (meaning funding could be cut), advocated for reduced aid to public schools, called for sugarcoating American history in public schools to cover up the role of racism, and favor tax cuts for the rich that would result in soaring deficits and less funding for vital programs.

The Republican civil war fueled by Trump has left the party disunited, with Republicans like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is term-limited, saying he will not vote for Dan Cox, the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee for governor. Hogan has called Cox “a nut” and “a QAnon whack job” who “is not, in my opinion, mentally stable.” Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has decried the sad “candidate quality” of the current crop of GOP nominees.  

To take advantage of the weak GOP field, Democrats must focus on the issues and put party labels aside to demonstrate to voters which party can accomplish the most for the American people. From fighting inflation to getting people vaccinated to reopening schools and repairing roads, bridges and tunnels, to connecting every community, it’s Democrats who are driving forward and looking at the road ahead, while many Republicans are focused on the rearview mirror and Trump’s election defeat.  

These developments, along with the willingness of Democrats to campaign everywhere, should leave the party optimistic that, unlike in most midterm elections, the party in the White House will come out stronger in November. The mixture of a marvelously productive two years for Democrats and the weakness of Republican nominees has created the opportunity for historic wins in 2022. We need to grasp that opportunity.

Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC News and former chair of the Democratic National Committee. She is the author of “Hacks: Inside the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

White House announces staffing changes in press operation

The White House on Thursday announced a trio of staffing changes in the press office as the administration prepares for the final stretch before the midterm elections.

Olivia Dalton will join the West Wing to serve as principal deputy press secretary, a role that has been vacant since May when Karine Jean-Pierre was elevated to White House press secretary.

Dalton will come to the White House from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where she served as spokesperson. She also recently led communications efforts for the resettlement of Afghan refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Dalton previously worked on the transition team for the Biden administration, and she worked for President Biden when he was serving as a senator.

The White House also announced Kate Berner will be promoted from deputy communications director to principal deputy communications director. Berner has worked sporadically for Biden since 2012, and she was viewed as a possible replacement for communications director Kate Bedingfield when Bedingfield briefly planned to step down before changing her mind.

Berner’s old role will be filled by Herbie Ziskend, who currently works in Vice President Harris’s office and previously worked with Biden during his first term as vice president.

“We are so lucky to have these three incredibly talented people on our team,” Bedingfield tweeted. “They are stars who have played pivotal roles on Team Biden-Harris going back many years and will be critical voices moving forward. Huge congrats to Olivia, Herbie and Kate — so well-deserved.”

The new staff members cap off months of changes within the White House communications operation that started in May with the departure of former press secretary Jen Psaki. Since then, roughly a half dozen press staffers have departed the White House, most of them for other jobs in the administration.

Jean-Pierre was elevated to press secretary, and John Kirby came to the White House from the Pentagon to serve as national security spokesman

For his part, Biden has largely avoided media interviews throughout the summer, staying out of the spotlight as key pieces of his agenda made it through Congress. He is set to attend a rally on Thursday night with the Democratic National Committee, his first political event in weeks.

Source: TEST FEED1

Youth type 2 diabetes diagnoses jumped 77 percent during COVID-19

New research led by a team at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center details an unprecedented increase in the number of new type 2 diabetes diagnoses among youth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, “whether the increase was caused by COVID-19 infection, or just associated with environmental changes and stressors during the pandemic is unclear,” authors wrote. 

Investigators assessed records of more than 3,000 children newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between March 2018 and February 2021. 

Findings, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, showed new diagnoses of type 2 diabetes rose by 77 percent during the first year of the pandemic. A total of 825 cases were identified on average in the two pre-pandemic years compared with 1,463 in the first year of the pandemic. 

Diagnosis rates nearly doubled in Hispanic youth over the past two years, while rates in Black children did double but rates in white children declined. The majority of newly diagnosed cases were among youth with public insurance. 

“It used to be rare to hear about a child with type 2 diabetes, but its prevalence in adolescents has almost doubled in the past 20 years,” said co-author Megan M Kelsey of the Children’s Hospital Colorado in a statement. But “in the spring of 2020 we were inundated with new youth-onset type 2 diabetes cases,” Kelsey said. 

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All included patients were between the ages 8 and 21, had a body mass index in the 85th percentile and presented to one of 24 U.S. hospitals. Few patients also had COVID-19 upon hospitalization.  

Previous research has shown COVID-19 increases diabetes risk, especially among those already susceptible to the disease. 

Obesity is also a key risk factor for the condition, while in the United States, nearly 1 in 3 children are currently overweight. Decreased physical activity stemming from virtual school and social isolation could have increased sedentary behaviors among children throughout the pandemic. Disrupted sleep schedules and more unhealthy eating also might have contributed to the uptick. 

In addition to increased diagnoses, electronic medical record data showed “likelihood of presenting with metabolic decompensation and severe diabetic ketoacidosis also increased significantly during the pandemic.” 

These new onset conditions put an “enormous strain” on pediatric diabetes health care providers, families, and patients alike, authors wrote. 

Several social determinants of health contribute to the risk of type 2 diabetes, including limited access to healthy food. In the United States, non-Hispanic Black patients are twice as likely as their white counterparts to die from diabetes and are more likely to be hospitalized for lower limb amputations. 

“Youth with type 2 diabetes are known to be exposed to significant environmental stressors, as evidenced by a high proportion coming from single-caregiver and low-income households, with low parental education attainment,” authors wrote.

In addition “mental health disorders are common in youth with obesity and diabetes. It is possible that elements of this underlying stress could contribute to the pathophysiology of diabetes.”

Although girls are typically diagnosed with type 2 diabetes more often than boys, results showed that in the first year of the pandemic 55 percent of new onset cases were among boys. “This was one of the more unusual findings from our study,” noted co-first author Risa Wolf in a release.

Researchers concluded by underscoring the importance of clinician screening for type 2 diabetes and an increased focus on exercising and healthy eating for children.

Source: TEST FEED1

Denver high school criticized over video telling students to avoid police in racially motivated attacks

A Denver high school is facing criticism after playing a video advising students to avoid interactions with police in racially motivated attacks. 

CBS affiliate KCNC reported on Wednesday that during a school-wide assembly, South High School students were shown a video entitled “Don’t be a Bystander: 6 Tips for Responding to Racist Attacks” published by the Barnard Center for Research on Women.

One of the six tips mentioned in the 5-year-old video was to avoid the police in such incidents due to authorities’ tendency to escalate the situation and “often treat victims as perpetrators of crimes.”

In a statement, the Denver Police Foundation (DPF) expressed its disappointment and concern, saying sharing this type of advice to students is “irresponsible” and “discourages cooperation of the victim, potentially leading to no accountability of the offender and their behavior.” 

“The Denver Police Foundation supports and commends South High School for engaging their student body in learning how to combat, mitigate and act in the face of terrifying acts of bias-motivated crimes against those in their community, but showing a video that asks their students to directly engage in a potentially violent situation with no training or expertise on how to deescalate AND telling them not to call police is beyond disappointing and discouraging,” the group said in a statement. 

South High School principal Rachel Goss wrote a letter to families of the students, according to KCNC, saying the school’s initial purpose was to provide empowerment for students “who may witness these types of attacks, not to have any sort of negative impact on the longstanding relationship between the Denver Public Schools and the Denver Police Department.” 

The Hill has reached out to Denver Public Schools for more information. 

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Three more states ban abortion as trigger laws take effect

Three more states officially outlawed abortion Thursday, as a wave of new abortion restrictions take over the U.S. following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade two months ago. 

Idaho, Tennessee and Texas will officially join eight other states that have banned abortion through “trigger” laws, legislation designed to take effect immediately or upon quick state action the moment Roe v. Wade no longer applies. 

Those laws jumped into action as soon as the Supreme Court issued its decision on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in June, effectively overturning Roe and ending a nearly 50-year precedent that protected abortion as a constitutional right.  

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Here are the latest abortion laws taking effect: 

Idaho 

Enacted in 2020, Idaho’s abortion legislation is structured to take effect on Aug. 25, 30 days after Roe is overturned and it bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It makes exceptions for rape, incest and if the mother’s life is in danger.  

Violators of the law can be charged with a felony punishable by at least two years in prison.  

Just one day before Idaho’s abortion law was set to take effect, a federal judge halted part of the ban – asserting the state cannot punish doctors for performing abortions to protect the life of a pregnant woman within an emergency room situation. The decision stems from a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice, which argued that Idaho’s ban violated the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The pause will remain in place until the lawsuit is resolved. 

Tennessee 

Enacted in 2019, Tennessee’s abortion law was set to go into effect Thursday, 30 days after Roe is overturned. It bans abortions beyond six-weeks of pregnancy, with violators subject to a felony charge.  

Tennessee voters also chose to amend the state’s constitution back in 2014 to ensure it would not protect a right to abortion or funding of abortion.  

Texas 

Texas already passed a restrictive abortion law last year, known as Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy while also allowing private citizens to bring lawsuits for $10,000 or more against violators. 

A new mechanism takes effect Thursday, increasing the penalty for anyone who provides or attempts an abortion to a first or second-degree felony and a fine of at least $100,000 for each violation. 

President Biden has tried to protect federal access to abortion, signing two executive orders that protect access to medication abortion, emergency care for pregnant women and support for women who need to travel out-of-state in order to receive a wanted abortion. 

However, most states that had trigger laws in place have now enacted them.  

There are still more states that are considered likely to ban abortion because of their political composition, history and other indicators. That includes Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) vowed that he will work to expand abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court’s June decision. Currently, abortion is legal up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.  

Source: TEST FEED1

After the Mar-a-Lago raid, Trump and his followers may have a reason to feel paranoid

It may be hard to believe in these hyperpartisan times but, even if you don’t like anything about Donald Trump, you can still think that he’s getting a raw deal. Whether he actually is or not is something else altogether.

A lot of Trump’s most loyal supporters think just that — that he really is getting a raw deal, that he’s nothing more than a political target of the Department of Justice (DOJ) because, well, because he’s Donald Trump. No surprise there: Trump’s most loyal supporters think their favorite president of all time can never do anything wrong.

But it’s also what some of my more thoughtful conservative friends think — friends who wish Trump would take a vacation in Outer Mongolia and not come back until 2025, if then.

They’re suspicious over what motivated the FBI raid at the home of the former president. In their more paranoid moments, they attribute the worst motives to the FBI, the DOJ, the attorney general, and even the current president of the United States, who, they make sure I realize, may wind up running against the man whose home was raided.

As for Trump’s most loyal fans, they’re so mad they can’t see their own hypocrisy.

They yelled bloody murder when progressive Democrats demanded that we “defund the police.” Now, it’s some of the hard right who want to “defund the FBI.”

They screamed when Trump was compared to Nazis. Now they compare the FBI to the Gestapo.

Over the top? Yes. Stupid? I think so.

But there’s a reason a lot of Republicans question the validity of the search warrant that allowed the FBI to enter Mar-a-Lago and rummage around for all sorts of things. They remember that it was an FBI lawyer who lied to a judge to get a warrant during the investigation into Trump’s supposed collusion with the Russians. If the FBI lied then, they want to know, why should we trust them now?.

Besides, some top FBI agents were transparently hostile to Trump while they were investigating his supposed ties to Russia. So why should Republicans simply accept that the FBI was just doing its job, absent any political motives?

And my conservative friends — even those who don’t believe the election was “stolen” and who wish Trump would just go away — wonder if there’s one set of rules for Republicans and another for Democrats.

Why is Trump in the DOJ’s crosshairs, they ask, while Hillary Clinton, who also was accused of mishandling classified documents, barely got a slap on the wrist?

They remember that then-FBI Director James Comey rebuked Clinton for being “extremely careless” in using a private email address and server during her service as secretary of State. They remember that he raised questions about her judgment and said it was possible that hostile foreign governments had gained access to her account. They remember that he said a person still employed by the government — Clinton left the State Department in 2013 — could have faced disciplinary action for doing what she did. Yet he recommended no criminal charges against her, saying “our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

So why, conservatives wonder, do we hear talk now — especially on liberal cable news channels — about getting an orange jumpsuit ready for the former president?

“Double standard” are two words I’ve been hearing a lot lately.

My friends also bring up the Russia collusion investigation that crippled much of the Trump presidency. Liberal politicians and their allies in the media couldn’t stop yapping back then about how Trump was somehow involved with the Kremlin.

So if they fell for the Russia collusion hoax — and perpetuated the “fake news” story — why, Trump fans wonder, should we give them the benefit of the doubt now that they’re convinced Trump is up to no good, yet again?

And if Trump supporters believe — as an intelligent friend of mine put it to me just the other day — that “the deep state” won’t rest until it “gets Donald Trump,” let’s not simply chalk it up to paranoia (although, between us, I’m tempted to do just that). After all, it was Hillary Clinton who talked about “a vast right-wing conspiracy” that was out to get her husband, then-President Bill Clinton.

If liberals see right-wing conspiracies, is it really so hard to understand why conservatives see “deep state” left-wing conspiracies?

Before this is all over, it’s possible, I guess, that we may find out Trump had nefarious plans for the documents he allegedly took with him when he left office. If he planned to sell those to the Russians, I’d be the first one yelling, “Lock him up!” But I doubt he would do anything that crazy. Using secret documents to get a YUGE advance to spice up a memoir he might be thinking of writing? With Trump, that’s possible.

What’s also possible, though, is that the raid was legal but not necessary and that, who knows, maybe it was politically motivated, as Trump fans believe.

I don’t have enough information to know if Trump is a victim of the Biden administration — or if everything is on the up and up. But I do know you can have contempt for someone and still leave open the possibility that he’s being treated unfairly.

Trump supporters may very well turn out to be way off-base in what they think motivated the raid at Mar-a-Lago. Just because you’re paranoid, as the saying goes, doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.

At absolute least, it just might mean you have a reason to be paranoid.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He was a correspondent with HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” for 22 years and previously worked as a reporter for CBS News and as an analyst for Fox News. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him on Twitter @BernardGoldberg.

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Do you qualify for student loan forgiveness?

The Biden administration’s long awaited student loan forgiveness plan will eliminate student debt for millions of borrowers.  

Biden’s plan will cancel up to $10,000 per federal borrower earning less than $125,000 or families that make under $250,000 annually. Borrowers who received federal Pell Grants and meet the income limits are eligible for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness. 

Pell Grants, which have a maximum allowance of $6,895 per academic year, are typically awarded to undergraduate students in serious financial need.  

Administration officials said Wednesday around 20 million borrowers will see their debt erased if everyone eligible claims the relief.  

“That’s 20 million people who can start getting on with their lives,” Biden said at the White House on Wednesday. “All this means, people can start to finally crawl out from under that mountain of debt. To get on top of their rent and utilities. To finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business.” 

The Education Department said in its announcement that information regarding applications for relief will follow in the coming weeks, but 8 million borrowers whose financial data is readily available could see immediate relief. 

Biden’s plan does not address borrowers who have privately held loans, with a bank or credit union, which accounts for about 13 percent of student borrowers and 8 percent of the nation’s outstanding loan debt — close to $140 billion. 

Further, borrowers who received loans after June 30 will not be eligible for forgiveness, White House Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice confirmed.  

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The administration also announced it is extending the pandemic-related moratorium on student loan payments. It will be the final extension of the pause, which has lasted more than two years and spanned across two administrations. Payments are set to resume in January 2023. 

Biden’s forgiveness plan falls short of progressive advocates and lawmakers, including Sen. Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who pushed for $50,000 in cancellation. But Schumer praised the president’s action on social media, saying the effort could provide a way toward the middle class for millions. 

For decades, borrowers looking to pursue the American Dream have been held back by a predatory student loan system that turned their dreams into debt—while banks and collectors profited. Today, @POTUS helped right this wrong and helped restore a pathway to the middle class,” Schumer tweeted.

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Obama participating in fundraiser for Senate Democrats ahead of midterms

Former President Obama will be participating in a fundraiser hosted by the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm just two months ahead of the November midterms. 

Obama and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, will be holding a “conversation” in New York City on Sept. 8, according to an invitation obtained by The Hill and first reported by Axios.

General reception entry is $25,000 per person, while a VIP reception and photo line is $50,000, according to the invitation.

The fundraiser comes as Democrats are expected to face several headwinds in the midterms, though polling shows they may be able to retain at least partial control of Congress following new developments in recent weeks.

While President Biden’s generally lagging approval ratings and decades-high inflation could hurt Democrats in November, the president’s party also saw an impressive July jobs report; the passage of a sweeping health care, tax reform and climate package; and Biden’s recent announcement that he would be canceling a maximum of $10,000 for federal student loan borrowers with incomes of less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 for recipients of the Pell Grant who make up to that income threshold.

But Biden’s announcement could complicate the political landscape for Democrats in competitive races seeking reelection amid possible concerns about inflation. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Zelensky promises response after at least 25 dead after Russian strike on Ukraine Independence Day

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday vowed to make Russia “bear responsibility” for a rocket attack levied against a Ukrainian train station in Chaplyne that killed 22 people during the country’s Independence Day.

“Chaplyne is our pain today,” Zelensky said in his evening address. “As of this moment, there are 22 dead, five of them burned in the car, an 11-year-old teenager died, a Russian missile destroyed his house.”

Zelensky had warned that Russia might step up its attacks on Wednesday during the holiday, which also marked six months since Russia invaded Ukraine, saying “something particularly cruel” might happen.

“Search and rescue operations at the railway station will continue,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

“We will definitely make the occupiers bear responsibility for everything they have done,” he continued. And we will certainly drive the invaders out of our land. Not a single stain of this evil will remain in our free Ukraine.”

Authorities in Kyiv banned large gatherings during Independence Day out of fear of Russian attacks.

Air raid sirens sounded during the day, and the population mostly laid low, but crowds gathered on a main street in the city to see a display of heavily damaged tanks, armored personnel carriers and rocket launchers.

“The occupier believed that in a few days he would be on parade in our capital’s downtown,” Zelensky said earlier on Wednesday in an address marking Independence Day.

“Today, you can see this ‘parade’ on Khreshchatyk,” Zelensky added. “The proof that enemy equipment can appear in the center of Kyiv only in such form. Burnt, wrecked and destroyed.”

President Biden marked Ukraine’s holiday, which celebrates the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, by pledging an additional roughly $3 billion security assistance package.

The package, which includes six National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and laser-guided rocket systems, is the single largest U.S. assistance measure to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February.

“They have stood resolute and strong in the face of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. And today is not only a celebration of the past, but a resounding affirmation that Ukraine proudly remains — and will remain — a sovereign and independent nation,” Biden said on Wednesday.

Source: TEST FEED1