Zelensky accuses Putin of backing Hamas’ murderous rampage against Israel on October 7

Volodymyr Zelensky dramatically accused Putin’s regime of backing Hamas’ murderous assault against Israel.

Ukraine’s battle-hardened war leader claimed that the jihadist atrocities of October 7 were a ‘really big wish’ for Russia.

Highlighting Moscow’s ties with Hamas’ backers in Iran, he added that the war in Gaza had now diverted the world’s attention away from the Kremlin’s lawless and barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Sun, Zelensky accused Russia of ‘lighting fires’ across the world and bringing the planet to the brink of a Third World War with its war in eastern Europe.

He also revealed that he had survived around six apparent assassination attempts by Putin since the outbreak of war on February 24 – adding that the Kremlin is plotting to topple him before the end of the year in a mission apparently dubbed ‘Maidan 3’ – a reference to the Euromaidan revolution of 2014 which sparked the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Zelensky said: ‘Ukraine today [is] in the centre of these global risks of this Third World War. And I really think that Russia will push until the United States and China together will tell them very, very seriously to go out of [our] territory.’

President Volodymyr Zelensky inspecting the latest models of artillery and engineering weaponry during a visit to a training center to mark the ‘Missile Forces and Artillery and the Engineering Troops’ Day at an undisclosed location in Ukraine 

Vladimir Putin attends an event to hand over new equipment for public transport to 12 regions of Russia via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia on Monday, November 20 this year

Firefighters work at the site where a building was damaged by a Russian drone strike in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on November 18, 2023

The US has provided over $40billion in security aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion and pledged to back Kyiv for ‘as long as it takes’ but opposition from hardline Republicans has raised doubts about the future of US assistance.

Austin announced ‘another $100million drawdown… to provide additional artillery munitions, additional interceptors for air defence, and a number of anti-tank weapons’ during a press conference at St Michael’s Square in Kyiv.

In Washington, the State Department said the assistance includes three million rounds of small-arms ammunition and equipment for HIMARS precision rocket launchers.

Zelensky thanked the US for the additional package in his nightly address, noting that ‘there will be more artillery-shells that are needed right now.’

The two had met a few hours earlier, and Austin ensured US support would not lapse.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged further American support for Ukraine during an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday to stem concerns that help from its biggest ally could waver. Pictured are Zelensky (left) and Austin (right) shaking hands in Kyiv on November 20

Zelensky thanked the US for the additional package in his nightly address, noting that ‘there will be more artillery-shells that are needed right now.’ Pictured: Zelensky attending his meeting with Austin (not pictured) on Monday in Kyiv

‘The message that I bring you today, Mister President, is that the United States of America is with you. We will remain with you for the long haul,’ Austin told Zelensky.

‘What happens here in Ukraine – that not only matters to Ukraine but it matters to the rest of the world. It certainly matters to the United States of America,’ he added.

The trip to Kyiv – which also included a meeting with Ukrainian Defence Minster Rustem Umerov and a visit at the US embassy – is the Pentagon chief’s second since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Washington is by far the biggest donor of military assistance to Kyiv and a cut to US aid would be a major blow to Ukraine as it readies for the second winter of the war.

Zelensky said Austin’s visit was ‘an important signal for Ukraine’ and thanked Congress as well as the American people for their backing.

‘We count on your support,’ he said at the meeting.

Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged US lawmakers during a hearing in October to sustain support for Ukraine, with the US defence chief saying: ‘Without our support, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will be successful.’

But some Republican lawmakers oppose continued aid, and new support for Ukraine was left out of a temporary deal passed by Congress last week to avert a US government shutdown.

Despite this, a senior US defence official told journalists: ‘We continue to believe that Congress will provide that support and we are planning based on that conviction.’ 

A view shows residential buildings heavily damaged by permanent Russian military strikes in the front line town of Avdiivka, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine November 8, 2023. Ukraine is relying on U.S. and allied military hardware and ammo to try to turn back Russia’s invasion

Ukrainian service members fire a mortar during an exercise in Kyiv region, November 8, 2023

A Ukrainian armoured vehicle rides on a road near the front line in Donetsk, November 16

A group of Ukrainian marines sail from the riverbank of Dnipro at the frontline near Kherson, Ukraine, Saturday, October 14, 2023

US assistance has not been halted and there is still previously authorised aid to draw on.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said earlier this month that assistance packages ‘have been getting smaller because we have had to meter out our support for Ukraine’.

In addition to domestic US political opposition to continued aid, the devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas – and an accompanying spike in attacks on US forces in the Middle East – has drawn international attention away from Ukraine.

The US insists that it can provide assistance to both countries.

‘On the issue of whether there is a competition or trade-off between US support for Ukraine’s defence of its country and Israel’s defence of its people, there is not,’ a senior US defence official said.

‘There is some overlap but where there is overlap in certain kinds of ammunition … there is no reduction in the provision of capabilities to Ukraine,’ the official added.

The US has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded in February 2022 and coordinating aid from dozens of countries.

Ukraine’s supporters have also provided training for Kyiv’s troops, while the US and other countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia, including on financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin shakes hands with Ukrainian servicemen after his meeting with Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov in Kyiv, Ukraine on November 20, 2023

Austin’s visit comes after Kyiv announced it had pushed Russian forces back several kilometres from the banks of Dnipro river. Pictured: Zelensky (4th from left) meeting with Austin (3rd from right)

Austin’s visit comes after Kyiv announced it had pushed Russian forces back several kilometres from the banks of Dnipro river.

That would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv’s forces months into a disappointing counter-offensive.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November.

A bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro could allow a deeper offensive in the south and offer protection to Ukrainian towns and villages facing relentless Russian shelling.

Officials said early on Monday that at least two people had been killed by Russian shelling on a carpark in Kherson.

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