Latest developments:
Ukrainian officials say the country's forces have recaptured 193 square kilometers of territory since launching a counteroffensive last month.
Poland, which serves as a hub for military aid to Ukraine, says it detained a 15th member of a Russian spy network. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said the person "kept surveillance of military facilities and seaports."
Officials in southern Ukraine said Monday that Russian shelling hit a humanitarian aid hub, killing at least four people and injuring 11 others.
The attack happened in the town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Yuriy Malashko, the regional governor, said on Telegram that Russia forces used a guided bomb to strike the site in a residential neighborhood and that all four of those killed died at the scene of the attack.
Russia has been accused of striking numerous civilian targets during its invasion that began in February 2022, while denying it targets civilian sites.
NATO summit
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said leaders at a summit this week in Lithuania will agree on a “multi-year package of support” for Ukraine.
“This package will help Ukraine rebuild its defense and security sector, so that it can defend against further aggression,” Stoltenberg said in a Foreign Affairs article published Monday. “It will ensure that the Ukrainian armed forces are fully interoperable with NATO forces.”
The NATO chief said the alliance will host the first meeting of a new NATO-Ukraine council that will serve as “a platform for decisions and crisis consultation, where NATO allies and Ukraine will sit as equals to tackle shared security concerns.”
Stoltenberg has reiterated that NATO members agree Ukraine will one day join the alliance, while cautioning that adding Ukraine while Russia’s invasion is ongoing is not on the agenda.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in an interview with CNN broadcast Sunday that if Ukraine were to become a NATO member before the war’s end, it would drag the whole alliance into the conflict against Russia.
The U.S. president also said that before Ukraine is considered for NATO membership, it will take time to meet all the qualifications required “from democratization to a whole range of other issues.” In the meantime, he expressed the U.S. commitment to provide Ukraine “the weaponry they need, the capacity to defend themselves.”
Biden said there is no unanimity in NATO on whether to bring Ukraine into the alliance in the middle of the war, emphasizing that “holding NATO together is really critical.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” that during the summit, he hopes to “do whatever he can to… expedite solutions for an agreement with our partners.”
Cluster bombs
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee, both Democrats, expressed concerns Sunday over the White House decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine to combat the Russian invasion.
Cluster munitions typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode upon contact with the ground then pose a danger for decades. They are banned by more than 100 entities, though not the U.S., Russia and Ukraine.
Kaine, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he had “some real qualms” about the U.S. decision because it could inspire other countries to bypass the international convention barring the munitions.
“It could give a green light to other nations to do something different as well,” Kaine said on “Fox News Sunday.” However, he said that he “appreciates the Biden administration has grappled with the risks.” Kaine also affirmed that Ukraine had given assurances that they were not going to use these munitions against Russian civilians.
Republican U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told “CNN Sunday,” Ukraine’s counteroffensive was going slowly and that cluster bombs could be a “game changer” for the Ukrainians, adding that he’s pleased the administration has finally agreed to do this.”
However, Lee urged the Biden administration to reconsider the move.
“Cluster bombs should never be used. That’s crossing a line,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding the United States risked losing its “moral leadership” by delivering cluster bombs to Ukraine.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby defended the U.S. decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, saying Sunday that it will keep the country “in the fight,” as Ukrainian forces are running out of regular artillery ammunition.
Canada, Britain, Spain, Germany and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres all expressed opposition to the U.S. decision.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov welcomed the U.S. announcement and promised the cluster munitions would be used only in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and not in Russia.
Moscow described the U.S. decision as another egregious example of Washington’s anti-Russian course.
Wagner mutiny
Russia’s defense ministry shared a video Monday showing Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the country’s most senior general, in his first public appearance since a brief mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group.
The video shows Gerasimov receiving a report and giving directions to Russia’s aerospace forces and the military’s intelligence service.
Gerasimov was one of the main targets of criticism, along with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, for Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his forces in the takeover of the headquarters of Russia’s southern military command late last month.
The rebellion prompted speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin would reshuffle his military leadership.
Still absent from public view is Gerasimov’s deputy, General Sergei Surovikin, who has longtime links to Prigozhin.
Azov release
Zelenskyy tweeted a note of thanks to Turkey on Monday along with a video from his trip that included bringing home five commanders from Ukraine’s Azov unit who were involved in the defense of the city of Mariupol.
The commanders were taken to Turkey as part of a September prisoner swap and were supposed to stay there until the end of the war under the conditions of the deal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday that Turkey had violated the terms of the agreement and that Russia was not informed in advance that the commanders would be released back to Ukraine.
VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara, VOA national security correspondent Jeff Seldin and VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this article was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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