The US government has announced new military aid for Ukraine in the amount of 325 million US dollars (almost 297 million euros). The package mainly contains ammunition for weapon systems such as the Himars multiple rocket launchers and artillery shells, said spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden, Karine Jean-Pierre. According to the White House, the new aid comes from stocks of the US military.

"This new security assistance will enable Ukraine to continue valiantly defending itself in the face of Russia's brutal, unprovoked and unjustified war," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The USA is considered Ukraine's most important ally in the defense against the Russian invasion and has been supporting Ukraine with billions in military aid since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression.

Zelenskyy: Ukraine is preparing new troops

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine is preparing new troops for action at the front. Specifically, these are border troops that he visited on Wednesday in Volhynia in the border triangle of Ukraine with Belarus and Poland. Border troops from Ukraine are already deployed on the fronts, including in the heavily contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

"Together with all our defense and security forces, the border guards are fighting at the front, even in the most difficult areas," said Zelenskyy in his evening video address. "We are also preparing new units - border guard units - to join our active operations, to join the movement that we are gradually developing."

Air alert in Kiev: speculation about Nasa satellites

An unusual trail of light on the night horizon over Kiev has caused an air alert in the Ukrainian capital. Shortly thereafter, the city's military administration announced on Telegram that a disused NASA satellite that had entered the earth's atmosphere may have caused this phenomenon. "An air raid alert has been called to avoid casualties from debris falling on the ground," it said. The anti-aircraft defense had not become active. The satellite may be the RHESSI space telescope, whose re-entry into the atmosphere was announced for Thursday night. The telescope was launched in February 2002 and the mission ended in October 2018.

Kiev: Only Putin's doppelganger visiting the front

According to Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin was represented by a double during his alleged visit to the front in the occupied territories of Ukraine. "That wasn't the real Putin," Ukraine's National Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov claimed without evidence on television on Wednesday. "In order to be able to talk to the real Putin, you have to be in quarantine for at least 10 to 14 days." The Putin sighted in Cherson was "an ordinary double, of which, as is well known, there are several".

According to Danilov, Putin is "a frightened man" and the idea that he has decided to visit the front is simply impossible. According to Kremlin information on Tuesday, Putin had visited both the occupied areas of the Cherson region in the south and Luhansk in the east of Ukraine and met with leading military figures. The exact time of the alleged visit was not given by the Kremlin. Information from the war zone cannot be independently verified.

Ukrainian front-line fighters receive around 2,500 euros a month extra

For their deployment on the front line in the fight against Russian troops, Ukrainian soldiers receive 100,000 hryvnia (around 2,500 euros) a month in addition to their military pay. This was announced by the Ukrainian military leadership yesterday in order to end speculation about pay and allowances. "A soldier who serves the country and protects it from the aggressor, risking his own life and health and performing duties under extremely difficult conditions, must be highly motivated," the General Staff statement said.

The 100,000 hryvnia are "reserved for defenders who are fighting directly at the front". Soldiers who perform tasks in the combat area but are not directly involved in combat, as well as air defense soldiers, received an additional 30,000 hryvnia (737 euros). Those deployed in the rear receive no front-line bonuses. The basic military pay for all soldiers was raised to almost 20,000 hryvnia (490 euros) from the beginning of February.

What is important today

Heavy fighting is to be expected again on the fronts in eastern Ukraine.