March 12, 2022

The White House Just Approved $200 Million Worth of Weapons for Ukraine

Russia has threatened to attack weapons shipments.

A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank weapon north of Kyiv on Saturday.Photo by Sergei Supinsky / AFP via Getty

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The White House approved a new round of $200 million worth of arms and equipment for Ukraine, administration officials said on Saturday. The move comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked for international support against the Russian invasion, and just one day after Russia said it could target western weapons supplies being delivered to Ukraine.

The new supplies include Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger antiaircraft missiles, administration officials told media outlets. The support brings the total worth of US weapons sent to Ukraine since January 2021 to $1.2 billion, and $3.2 billion since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

Russians have so far not attacked US weapons shipments but threatened on Friday to do so.

“We warned the United States that the orchestrated pumping of weapons from a number of countries is not just a dangerous move, it is a move that turns these convoys into legitimate targets,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Russian state TV, according to Al-Jazeera.

Ryabkov said that Russia had warned “about the consequences of the thoughtless transfer to Ukraine of weapons like man-portable air defense systems, anti-tank missile systems and so on.”

Zelenskyy has called for western powers to help set up a no-fly zone—a request that NATO countries have rejected out of concern that it would be seen as escalation against Russia. The United States has also declined to send other types of military aid, including Polish warplanes, citing similar concerns.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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