US set to provide $1b extra military aid to Ukraine

WASHINGTON • President Joe Biden's administration is readying about US$800 million (S$1.11 billion) of additional military aid to Ukraine and was set to announce it as soon as yesterday, three sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Mr Biden would authorise the assistance using his presidential drawdown authority, which allows the president to authorise the transfer of excess weapons from the country's stocks, the sources told Reuters.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that an announcement could slip into next week, cautioning that weapons packages can change in value before they are announced.

The White House declined to comment.

Since Russian troops poured over the Ukrainian border in February in what Russian President Vladimir Putin termed a "special military operation", the conflict has settled into a war of attrition fought primarily in the east and south of Ukraine.

Washington has sent billions of dollars in security assistance to the Kyiv government.

Meanwhile, the head of Britain's GCHQ intelligence service said yesterday that Russia has failed to gain ground in cyberspace against Ukraine almost six months after its invasion of the country.

In an op-ed in The Economist, Mr Jeremy Fleming, the intelligence head, wrote that both countries have been using their cyber capabilities in the war in Ukraine.

"So far, President Putin has comprehensively lost the information war in Ukraine and in the West. Although that's cause for celebration, we should not underestimate how Russian disinformation is playing out elsewhere in the world," Mr Fleming wrote.

"Just as with its land invasion, Russia's initial online plans appear to have fallen short. The country's use of offensive cyber tools has been irresponsible and indiscriminate."

Mr Fleming said Russia had deployed WhisperGate malware to destroy and deface Ukrainian government systems. He also said Russia has used the same playbook before on Syria and the Balkans and said online disinformation is a major part of Russia's strategy. However, the GCHQ has been able to intercept and to provide warnings in time, he said.

REUTERS