However, Biden reiterated in an interview with ABC News that he has no plans to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, which Zelensky has been asking for for months, saying the US currently does not see a justification for sending the advanced aircraft. sees
Biden said, “I’m dismissing it for now.”
G7 members Canada and Britain unveiled similar measures, as did the 27-nation European Union, after some hectic last-minute negotiations.
At the same time, Ukraine’s military said Russia had doubled the number of ships on active duty in the Black Sea on Friday and predicted it could be preparing more missile strikes.
For Ukrainians, who spent much of the year in fear and mourning and supported the war effort in any way they could, the anniversary meant reflection.
“When an innocent life is taken before your eyes, when someone targets a child, all you ask is ‘Why? For what’?” said Alla Nechiporenko, 50, whose husband was shot dead and 14-year-old son wounded at a Russian outpost in Bucha, near Kiev, at the start of the war.
In Russia, where publicly criticizing the war is punishable by a long prison sentence, a human rights group said dozens of people were detained by police for actions to remember the victims of the invasion, in some cases just flowers. to keep.
There were no official public events and the mood was muted.
Vera, a pensioner, said, “I really want peace, I really want all this to end as soon as possible.”
People visit the graves of their relatives in Bucha on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Igor, walking through Moscow, said that Russia should win: “We are hoping for it to end successfully. That is all we can hope for. We have no other option.”
blue and yellow
Ukraine’s blue and yellow colors illuminated the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate, the Empire State Building and the Sydney Opera House in a wave of international solidarity.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers from both sides are believed to have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, saying it was necessary to protect Russia’s security.