KYIV, Ukraine (Dispatches) — The Kremlin warned Wednesday that increasing the supply of U.S. arms to Ukraine would aggravate the devastating 10-month war  and “does not bode well” for the neighboring country, where President Vladimir Putin vowed Russia would achieve its goals.

Speaking during a meeting with his top military brass, Putin said Moscow would use the combat experience to enhance its armed forces. He told the military leaders to analyze the Western weapons used by Ukraine to “develop our armed forces and strengthen the capability of our troops.”

He said the country’s military should learn lessons and modernize based on its experiences in Ukraine and that special emphasis would go to developing his country’s nuclear forces, which he described as “the main guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty.”

In a speech at the same meeting, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia’s military must expand from its current size of 1 million personnel to 1.5 million service members, a number that should include 695,000 volunteer contract soldiers. He also said Russia would form new units in the country’s west in view of plans by Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

U.S. to Send $1.8bn in Aid, Patriot Battery, to Ukraine

 

U.S. officials said Tuesday the U.S. will send $1.8 billion in military aid to Ukraine in a massive package that will for the first time include a Patriot missile battery and precision guided bombs for their fighter jets, as the Biden administration prepares to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington.

The aid signals an expansion by the U.S. in the kinds of advanced weaponry it will send to Ukraine to bolster the country’s air defenses against what has been an increasing barrage of Russian missile strikes.

Zelenskyy and other Ukraine officials have pressed Western leaders to provide more advanced weapons, including the Patriots, to help their country in its war with Russia. The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine to help repel Russian aerial attacks. The timing of the military aid announcement — as Zelenskyy makes his first trip out of Ukraine since the war began — sends a strong message of continued U.S. support for Ukraine as the war drags on.