as a reminder, he was suspended from the conservative party over claims that he misused funds. the times reported that he is accused of receiving funds from tory donors which was used for private medical expenses and to pay off who he called bad people who had locked him in a flat. alex mark menzies. now, to ukraine. we start this hour with ukraine, which has welcomed the 61 billion dollar package of military aid, finally approved by us lawmakers last night. russia says it shows that washington is wading deeper into a war that will end in humiliation. the foreign ministry spokeswoman, maria zakharova, said the aid which includes ammunition and air defences, was evidence that the us wants ukraine to fight to the last ukrainian .
which includes ammunition and air defences was evidence that the us wants ukraine to fight to the last ukrainian . our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse is in kyiv and says it can t come soon enough for president volodymyr zelensky. he s saying he wants to minimize the time between the political decisions in washington and, in his words, the destruction of the enemy on the eastern front line. he s meeting with his defence minister to talk about installing these incoming air defence systems on cities that need it, like kharkiv in the north east, you d imagine, as well as for them to be deployed on the front lines where russia enjoys air superiority. but it is on those very fortifications where president zelensky is hoping this package will change things. because just today we have russia s defence ministry claiming to have taken a small village. on its own, it won t mean much, but it s thought or feared here in kyiv that russia is shaping to try and take a town nearby. it s a ma
putin signaled that his invasion of ukraine will not end any time soon. he said the conflict will drag on until, quote, the last ukrainian is left standing. he also blamed the west for what he called, encouraging and justifying genocide against people in the donbas region. this comes as zelenskyy that he would not succeed territory to russia for peace. ukrainians are not ready to give up their land. as new territories of the russian federation, this is our land. we ve always said this. and we will never give it up. cholesterol word joint us.