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STORY: Speaking at a news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Marles said the contribution to Ukraine's military, including short-range air defences and drones, is one of many packages to come. "We understand that this will be an enduring conflict and we will be contributing more in the future because we are determined to stand side by side with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to prevail," Marles, who is also deputy prime minister, told reporters.

The U.S. will provide Ukraine additional Patriot missiles for its air defense systems as part of a massive $6 billion additional aid package, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Friday.

The $6 billion aid package is the largest ever sent to Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell, Pope Francis discusses the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and calls for negotiating peace.

The U.S. secretly gave Ukraine ATACMS, long range missiles that can reach deep into Russian-held areas, and U.S. officials say Ukraine used them over the last week

STORY: ”It's a good day for America. It's a good day for Europe. It's a good day for world peace. For real.” U.S. President Joe Biden signed a nearly $100 billion foreign aid package into law Wednesday after months of wrangling with Republicans in Congress. Sixty-one billion dollars of that will go to help Ukraine in the fight against Russia’s more than two-year invasion. "America stands with our friends. We stand up against dictators. We bow to no one to no one, certainly not Vladimir Putin.” Ukranian President Volodymir Zelenskiy said he was grateful to Biden and Congress. Biden said he had already approved an initial $1 billion in weapons supplies for Ukraine and that the flow of these arms would start Wednesday. "I'm making sure the shipments start right away in the next few hours, literally the few hours we're going to begin sending equipment to Ukraine for air defense, munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armored vehicles." The Democrat had pressed Republican lawmakers for six months to approve more funding for Ukraine. His 2024 election rival Donald Trump objected to aid for Ukraine, and some Republicans in Congress refused to back it, questioning whether Ukraine could ever prevail. But with the backing of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, his chamber passed the bill Saturday and the Senate approved it late Tuesday. The legislation also includes $26 billion for Israel, as well as $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza. ”Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay. And everything we do is guided by the ultimate goal of bringing this hostages home, securing a cease fire, and setting the conditions for an enduring peace.” Another $8 billion will go to countering China's military might, with funding for Taiwan and other U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific. Biden also signed a separate bill tied to the aid package that bans TikTok in the United States if its owner, Chinese tech firm ByteDance, fails to divest the popular short video app over the next nine months to a year. TikTok's CEO said on Wednesday that the company expects to win a legal challenge to block the legislation.

Russia is closing in on outgunned Ukrainian soldiers in the eastern city of Chasiv Yar. WSJ’s Ben C. Solomon travels to the front line as Kyiv awaits critical U.S. weaponry. Photo illustration: The Wall Street Journal

STORY: "Our region is again under attack by Ukrainian UAVs. As a result of the enemy attack on civilian fuel and energy facilities, fires broke out in the Smolensk and Yartsevo districts," Anokhin said on the Telegram messaging app. It was not immediately known what facilities were on fire. Separately, Igor Artamonov, the governor of the Lipetsk region in Russia's southwest, said that a drone there fell on an industrial zone. He said on Telegram that there were no injuries, but did not say whether there was any damage and what object was targeted. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Reuters was able to confirm the location from the position and shape of the buildings which matched satellite and file imagery of the area. Reuters was not able to independently confirm the date the videos were filmed.

The Senate has passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.

The Senate is debating whether to pass a set of bills that would release additional funds for U.S. allies Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion is following from Capitol Hill.

One of the bills also includes a proposal to force a sale of TikTok or face a ban.

STORY: Far from the trenches in Ukraine, recruiters armed with information packs offer patriotic volunteers an opportunity to join the war. As the country's efforts to conscript enough men to fight Russia are obstructed by public skepticism – defense officials are embarking on a serious charm offensive to recruit a citizens' army fit to fight the invasion. Oleksiy Bezhevets, is a ministry adviser who is overseeing the drive: "Nations form themselves in fire. Now there's fire, and the nation is forming. This mobilization is one of the elements, and one of the instruments that help a nation to form itself." This softer call-up is being conducted on job-search sites and outreach centers, as well as billboards and social media, and offers a wartime novelty: an element of choice. Recruits can choose their units and roles that suit their skills as well as how long they will serve. This recruit says she wants to serve as a paramedic. The drive is also taking place online, in a glossy campaign by the 93rd MechaniZed Brigade. Kyiv is desperate to replenish its depleted forces, which are now vastly outnumbered and outgunned by Russia – as the war drags on into its third grinding year. The initial patriotic flood of volunteers who flocked to the army following the invasion in February 2022 has dried up. But the government understands the conscription drive has created its own difficulties including thousands evading the draft and some fleeing abroad rather than risking the trenches. Bezhevets says thirteen of the new recruitment centers have opened since February, and the government plans to expand the number to 30 by the middle of the year. In March, Kyiv's top general said the military would need to mobilize fewer people than the initial target of up to 500,000, in part because of volunteers.

STORY: Ukraine's exhausted artillery gunners holding off Russian forces near the eastern town of Kupiansk are hoping for a lifeline. The latest U.S. aid package could be it - a potential game changer for Kyiv's forces. But it could take some time. One soldier, whose call sign is "Sailor," says a shortage of shells has reduced Ukraine's covering fire for its infantrymen - costing lives and territory. "If they had passed the aid package bill earlier, we would have lost a bit less ground. We could have maybe taken back some ground." The $61 billion aid package comes after six months of congressional wrangling. It could replenish Kyiv's critically low stocks of weaponry, and air defenses, and likely improve its chances of averting a major Russian breakthrough in the east. SAILOR: "It’s better now if we let them attack and we defend. But when the package will be a done deal and we get the shells, drones and whatever else, then we do a 180-degree turn, gather our reserve forces and attack. We’ll have our aviation with us, at it will be effective." Kyiv still faces manpower shortages on the battlefield and questions about the strength of its sprawling frontline, ahead of a potential Russian summer offensive. After months of political debate, a new faster mobilization law takes effect in May. But new civilian draftees will require months of training, which some analysts say could become a window of opportunity for Russia to exploit. Russia has been slowly advancing, with its superior troop numbers and artillery, since capturing Avdiivka in February - a long-time bastion town in the eastern Donbas region. They are now bearing down on the town of Chasiv Yar, which is located on high ground. If captured, that win would bring Moscow closer to the remaining Kyiv-held Donbas cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russian forces are able to fire 10 times more artillery rounds than Ukraine's troops. One of his generals estimates Russian forces outnumber Kyiv's troops by as much as 10 times in the east. Ukrainian positions have been pounded this year thanks to Russian air superiority - and Ukraine's dwindling defenses. One former Ukrainian defense minister said U.S.-produced F-16 fighter jets, which Kyiv expects to receive later this year, would force Russian warplanes back entirely. EU assistance from June will include a Czech-led initiative to supply some 300,000 rounds of artillery shells. A senior European security source told Reuters optimistically, that if Ukraine receives the new international assistance, the chances of averting a major Russian breakthrough over the next year are "quite high."