because we do not encourage strikes outside the borders of ukraine. we do not make it possible to strike outside the borders of ukraine. we understand that when it comes to weapons not provided by the united states, then ukraine will make its own decisions. ukraine is an independent country and they will have to make their own decisions when it comes to using weapons they have obtained elsewhere or built themselves. like, for example, some of the drones that they make, and we've seen them use them. it. we do not encourage them to do so. but how can you justify why exactly this continues to be the policy of the united states at a time when russia is opening a new front in the kharkiv region. we support ukraine's ability to defend itself. some resources or equipment as part of the recently adopted additional aid have already been delivered to the front line to help ukraine defend itself, including against an attack on kharkiv. from the first day, we were devoted to the defense of ukraine. sometimes in ukraine there is a...

sense of frustration, a very understandable sense of frustration with the speed of aid when you are in the middle of a war and seeing your cities being attacked, i will just say that we have always supported ukraine, we will always support ukraine, we will provide them with everything they need to defend themselves, and that includes not only military support, but also intelligence support, to make sure that they make maximum use of the capacities that we provide. meanwhile, pressure is mounting in washington on the biden administration to allow ukraine to strike military targets in russia, with congressional lawmakers from both parties expressing their displeasure with the current policy this week. and urged biden to stop micromanaging ukraine's use of american weapons. we will talk more about this and whether it will be able to change the situation with our congress correspondent kateryna lisunova. katya, hello! congratulations maria! katy, i know you 've already spoken to both democrats and ...

republicans on this topic, what is the overall sentiment in congress on lifting this ban and how broad is the support? in general, if we talk about the leaders of the democrats, they are mostly reserved in their statements, because one way or another they have to support the policies of their president. at the same time , more and more democrats with whom i spoke are inclined to support the withdrawal of this from defense, to fire american weapons at military targets of the russian federation on the territory of russia. so the leading democrat adam smith, in particular for... that if this ban is to be lifted, then it is necessary to start from the borders with kharkiv oblast, because that is where russia is now conducting an offensive. in turn, another democrat, gregory meeks, said he was calling to provide ukraine with more long-range weapons, in particular attack missiles, but as for shooting on russian territory, he said that it is better not to declare this publicly, so as not to warn moscow about possible actions of ukraine. at the same time, the republicans have taken a fairly categorical position against any bans and ... have a fairly critical position

regarding this policy of the biden administration, but this is a fairly predictable position of the republicans, because in one way or another they are in opposition to the current administration. in general, i suggest listening to the opinions of both democrats and republicans with whom i spoke . i think it's time to give them etakamsa. they must be able to strike, particularly in areas such as the crimean bridge connecting russia. with the peninsula, as well as the areas in crimea where the russians keep weapons, but with regard to other territories, there is no need to talk about them now, because we do not need the russians to know what the ukrainians will or will not do. i would support withdrawal from the defense specifically in the kharkiv direction. russians they attack just from the other side of the border. and yes, i believe that all the weapons available to ukrainians should be used. to

stop incursions across the border. i don't think we should draw an artificial line. i don't think it makes sense in the current environment. we ask secretary of state blinkin the same question, why is the administration holding back the weapons systems that ukraine needs not only to defend its sovereign territory, but also to repel invaders. we see this problem with israel. the administration says they are want to help our allies, but... micro-manages the war strategy and ties the hands of our allies, instead of giving them the weapons and equipment they need to actually win and repel the invaders, not just deter but repel the invaders, that's what what they need i think this ban makes it more difficult to achieve our common goal of defeating putin and demonstrating our principles. my answer is yes. i think it's... it's ridiculous to let

the enemy just launch missiles and bombs across the border without being able to defend themselves. yes, that has to change. katya, now you have heard the positions of the legislators, tell me. in what way can the congress in general affect the position of the administration of the white house, which currently does not encourage, but also does not enable strikes on the territory of the russian federation by american weapons? this is an important question, maria, because these are different branches of government, because congress is the legislative branch of government, and the biden administration is the executive branch of government, but in general, according to the legislators with whom i spoke and on what they emphasize that there is no legal ban on the use of american weapons by the ukrainian armed forces on the territory of russia against the military ... well, the position of the russian federation, but there is a political, instead, position of the administration that forbids doing this, so there should be and will be pressure from the congress itself political pressure on the biden administration, and bringing this issue to public discussion is already a part, a part of this political pressure,

public pressure on the biden administration, at least that's what the lawmakers claim, with with which i communicated. in addition, such public discussion informs ordinary americans, ordinary americans. that such a ban exists in principle, and this is also an alternative pressure on the biden administration, because most americans were not, they were not aware of the existence of such a ban from the biden administration. in general, i suggest you listen to the comments of the republican congressman don bacon, with whom i spoke, about exactly how congress plans to put pressure on the administration. the best we can to do is to continue talking about it publicly. it reminds me of vietnam when we told our pilots that you can't hit missiles coming at you from ground positions. it is precisely such rules of hostilities that cement the situation of a stalemate and prevent ukraine from winning. so we just have to keep bringing attention to it. i think the administration, when more

people hear about it, they're just going to look silly and they're going to see it. over time, they will change their position. katya, we have already seen similar pressure from congress on others issues, in particular. it was then about atakamse long-range missiles, now this topic has become more active from different sides, when can we expect a positive result for ukraine? in general, if we talk about the continuation of congressional pressure, then we should not expect any new statements or public protests on this issue, in particular at hearings, for example, in the coming week, because the congress is going on a break again, next week and will return to work only a week later, after which the legislators themselves can be expected to continue it is possible to exert some pressure. there will be new statements, in fact, if there are none, the voice of america will also ask the legislators, i will directly ask the legislators, if they plan to take other steps to change the current situation, but anyway, as of now, the question is on the side of the biden administration and voa reporters, which

our viewers know very well, will also be asking both the pentagon and the biden administration, the white house, and the state department about what their response will be to the recent pro. cliques, both democrats and republicans, to change this position, and to change this ban for ukraine. and so, next week, at least it should be expected that this issue will be raised by journalists, but here it is worth summarizing that this is not the first issue that changed the position of the biden administration due to political pressure. we have already seen this with long-range projectiles, and in particular with attack missiles, also with f-16 fighters, so it should be expected that it will have an impact in one way or another, but... in terms of timing, it is actually quite difficult to talk about it. thank you, katya indeed, we at the voice of america will definitely follow this topic. i will remind you that kateryna lisunova told us about the pressure of congress on the presidential administration regarding ukraine's use of american weapons for strikes on the territory of the russian federation. as a result of shelling by russian

troops, the factor druk printing house was damaged in kharkiv. one of the largest printing houses of topographic complexes of the full cycle in europe, where almost all ukrainian ones are printed. publishing house british writer luke harding is convinced that the russians are on purpose attacked the printing house in order to destroy ukrainian-language books. however, he said in a comment to my colleague iryna matviychuk, this will not stop writers from publishing books in ukrainian. mr. harding, the vivat publishing house, where you are published, lost its printing press today. as they say, it was one of the largest printing houses by area in eastern europe that was. your first reaction when you heard about it? it horrified me and was very sad, my thoughts today are with the vivat publishing house, my condolences go to them, some of my colleagues were working in the printing house, some of them died, some were seen injured, the situation is still being investigated, but this is obviously a terrible

blow from the russians, i think this is a kind of proof of what the russian invasion of ukraine is, it is obvious that it is about the seizure of territory , about the victory over the ukrainian army. but it's also about the extermination of ukrainian culture and literature, i mean the bombing of publishing houses, the burning of books, what we're seeing is russian fascism, and i don't use that word lightly, it's... were in ukraine, as you say in this your book invasion about the war in ukraine, you books, deliberate destruction of books, can this be qualified as a war crime? this is an interesting question, you mentioned my book, here it is, it is a ukrainian edition, it was published last year by the vivat publishing house in ukraine. i am extremely proud of this book. last year, it topped the all-ukrainian rating among

popular science books. and in fact, if you look at the list by titles of books that won awards, vivat was the leader among them. this is an extraordinary publisher. at his place great editors, great people working in bookstores. he gave talks several times in kharkiv, lviv, and vivat bookstores in kyiv. to answer your question, i believe it is a war crime. i believe. that this is one of many war crimes, and we can hope that when it's over, when ukraine wins, when russia is defeated, there will be retribution in many areas, obviously for the people who were killed, for the kidnapped children who were taken from their homes, for women who were raped, for cities, towns and the villages that were destroyed, but the cultural payback as well, i remember, after the full-scale invasion in april 2022 . i visited borodyanka in the kyiv region, bucha, irpin. in borodyanka, on

the main square, opposite the palace of culture, there was a monument to the ukrainian folk bard taras shevchenko, who was shot in the forehead by a russian soldier. it was a bust with a huge hole in the head. it shows everything you need to know about what the russians are trying to do in ukraine. when they see a monument of ukrainian culture, they see it destroy the city of kharkiv is very close to the russian border and the ukrainian army cannot retaliate against russian targets in russian territory. how do you feel about this and how to protect kharkiv? is the situation absurd? this is absurd, if it were not so scary, it would be like in black humor. i have been to kharkiv many times, russia is only 40-50 km away, this is what allows russia to bombard kharkiv with north korean missiles day after day. russian missiles, kamikaze drones from iran, the situation there is terrible, and you know, the answer is,

it has two components: first, better air defense is clearly needed for kharkiv. i saw dmytro kuleba, ukraine's foreign minister, today begging for patriots air defense systems that could shoot down more of these missiles. the second component is for the biden administration to lift restrictions on the use of american weapons by the armed forces of the russian federation on the territory of russia. it is clear what is happening. russia uses the belgorod region as a springboard for its attacks on kharkiv. recently, this applies to vovchansk and the entire border region. now they can to do whatever they can, knowing that in fact ukraine cannot do anything about it, so the restrictions should stop. ukraine must be able to attack russian soldiers on russian territory in a defensive manner to allow its cities... and its people to survive. also, if the russian attack on the publishing house was

deliberate, no, no, it is not an accident, let everyone be clear, not if. we must not deceive ourselves. this is not a missile that fell haphazardly, it was a deliberate strike, a cynical strike. such russian attacks, or they will prevent writers like you or other foreign authors from publishing books. in ukraine, translate them into ukrainian. on the contrary, i just went to my garden, took a picture with the ukrainian translation of the invasion, and i'm going to share it on my social networks to encourage people, obviously people who can read ukrainian, to buy books at ivvat, buy other books, read, think, to share, just to participate in cultural life. interesting point, martin harris, british ambassador in kyiv, free speech. is ukrainian, several weeks ago he and i went to a british tea, i had two books, an english and

a ukrainian version of my invasion book, i said: martin, i would like to give you a book, which version do you prefer, he immediately chose the ukrainian, so i signed and gave it to him, and this morning he tweeted a photo of him holding my book and a couple of others published by vivat. this is the only way to resist russia's attempt. destroy ukrainian culture, i mean we can't be complacent, but we have to read books, we must honor books and continue life. watch the full version of the interview with the british writer luke harding on the youtube channel of voice of america ukrainian. meanwhile, despite constant shelling, many kharkiv residents still remain in the city. among them is the balash family. back in the spring of 2022, the russians targeted their production of children's clothing and caused losses in the amount of more than 3 million dollars.

anna kostyuchenko and pavel sukhodolskyi found out how entrepreneurs restored their business and why they stay in the city. until february 28, 22, here this destroyed building, it was our warehouse. kyrylo and maria balashova inspect the ruins of the warehouse, which they rented with their hands to store their goods. it should have been the same good season from our point of view, we prepared everything, packed everything, we had 200 squares, 200 km, it was completely packed with goods. year of baby clothes, the first patterns were created by hand in the kitchen. that's how we started together, it was maria and her friend victoria, with the support of her husband, who started their own business, sewing was very difficult, because there were children, we during the breaks, even then, children were breastfed, we tried to stand at exhibitions there, this is how

the first products looked, with which the women expanded the range with their own hands and started. to sell clothes for children aged zero to six years, later they found a warehouse to store the goods and hired professional seamstresses, but during the shelling of kharkiv at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the russians, the warehouse where almost all the sewn goods were stored burned to the ground, when you one day you understand that you, well, had everything and literally in a week you become nothing, well, nobody and that's it it's all about realizing that you're hunting for food. during the shelling, more than 70% of the goods were burned, says kyrylo balashov. the family learned about the misfortune from social networks. in the telegram, we can see that our address is smoke. i say, but no, it's a passing palaya, it's not a composition, it's not us, it's not us. the balashovs estimated their losses at more than 3 million dollars, but it is not

the money that they regret the most. it is now a little bit at a time when there is such a pity, a pity, a pity. not money, but you regret your time, your efforts, but we did it with our soul, the first time we did it with such emotions, they put their heart into it. most of all, the balashovs were worried about how to tell the sad news to co-owner victoria ryabovol, who was pregnant with her second child at the time. they wouldn't let me in, i would come for the first time somewhere in a year, or maybe even a year and a half, they told me not to go, because it will be very difficult for you. burning the balashovo warehouse. they picked up the goods in their entirety and moved them to another building where there was production, but not everything burned down, here everything was scattered from the explosion, here the whole area was covered with things, we were not the only ones here, but i found things here, our blankets for children, some overalls, pillows, we

collected it all, but the trials for kharkiv entrepreneurs did not end there, a pile of our raw materials, which are no longer suitable for use, and it was our money, our strength, our life, and we are shovels, two or for three days he threw this room out of this window step by step, collecting his money with a shovel and throwing it out the window. however, maria and victoria decided to give the brand a second life, they say,

they recovered thanks to the customers who supported them. there were a lot of people who just wrote, give... what you have left for us to give you money, and there were many of them, and due to the fact that we had a demand, we began to recover, because people wanted, they say, well, we like you very much, we believe in you, give us something and work, please work, we had to work in the red for some time and sew from fabric remnants, the women say, our assortment is very small, and what is left, we did not plan to do many things again, but we have fabric left. was also not very worthy, she was generally small, and we called people and asked if you were ready to work under such conditions, and everyone agreed, in four months it was possible ... to resume production, however, now the premises for the new women's warehouse were chosen in accordance with military realities, says maria, that is, the one where the artillery can reach less, so we won this area

so that it was a little far from russia on one side, and from russia on the other, and this was one of the criteria for moving, because we have already lost a lot and we don't want more, but we understand that this is only conditional. despite talk of possible plans to capture the russians kharkiv, kharkiv entrepreneurs continue to work and develop production. we are thinking about how to spend the winter, because we need to heat all this, and we heat it with electricity, and now it is a very big issue, and you can do something at home, but why do it at home, if many people do not have it, people will leave en masse, so this is what we are afraid of, and we are still working. is working maria and victoria have two children. women call their production their third child and are not going to leave it. anna kostyuchenko,

pavel sukhodolskyi for voice of america from kharkiv this was an incredible story about ukrainian entrepreneurs who continue to stay in ukraine, continue to do business, recover after shelling and... prepare for the new realities of war. we are moving on to another topic. sweden, as nato's newest member, this week announced a three-year plan to provide more than $7 billion in additional support to ukraine. this step was taken due to concerns about russia's growing aggression. myroslava gongadze, head of the east european bureau of the voice of america, tells the details of kvarn military base. at the swedish army base kvarn, american and swedish troops hone their skills. maneuvering in urban conditions. in this exercise, american soldiers simulate the liberation of a russian-occupied city, with swedish troops playing the role. johan ström, sergeant major of

the swedish armed forces and head of the swedish army's combat training center for military operations in urban conditions in kvarnia. strum says this training facility is one of the most technologically advanced in europe, equipped with laser systems, simulators and video cameras. the uniqueness of this institution. is that each building is a player in our simulated system. this place was built 10 years ago for training in realistic combat environments. stron explains that russia's war in ukraine prompted the swedish army to increase training to improve defense capabilities. the increasing intensity of the war in ukraine has been going on since the 14th year, and the sense of danger for europe is growing in the world and in sweden. sweden has one of the strongest armies in the region, the commander of the military base in kvarna, colonel ola sandberg explains that his country has been building up

its forces for historical reasons, and he emphasizes that they continue to train and prepare vigorously. as a non-nato member during the cold war, as well as a neutral country, sweden had to build a strong military capability to be able to defend... sweden, which recently joined nato, plans to spend more than 2% of its gdp on defense this year. the country is strengthening nato with its significant naval and air forces and giving the alliance control over the baltic by sea and access to the arctic. we also have a very strong military. industrial complex and we have domestic production of fighter jets as well as a strong naval tradition in building our own ships, especially submarines.

in addition to the technological advantages, the swedish army will benefit from a gender-neutral conscription system that provides a wider range of soldiers and officers, says battalion commander lt. col. liridona doughty. about 4 million swedes, almost equally men and women between the ages of 17 and 40. none gender differences gender equality is sweden's defense force, it doesn't matter what gender you are, what matters is what task you do. the military officer, mother of three boys and expecting her fourth child, says the russian attack on ukraine has rapidly changed the security environment in europe, which worries her. she says that her boys may have to stand up. soldiers, but she and her country are doing everything they can today to prevent them from having to fight in the future. boryslava kongadze, voice of america, kvarn, sweden.

friends, we will say goodbye on this, thank you trust the voice of america, watch our programs, see you soon! today in the verdict program with serhii rudenko. at the sole discretion of the armed forces. the united states government offers ukraine to independently make decisions about the use of american weapons. does it mean? this is an unofficial permission to strike on the territory of russia. exacerbation in the far east. china calls its large-scale military exercises around taiwan a serious warning to separatists. what could lead to a chinese invasion of a recalcitrant island? time to get used to the dark. ukrenergo calls ukrainians learn to live with regular

shutdowns. light and prepare for a severe winter, in what way can ukraine overcome the shortage of electricity? glory to ukraine, this is the verdict program, my name is serhiy rudenko, i congratulate everyone and wish everyone good health. over the next hour, we will talk about the war, about ukraine, about the world, and about our victory. let's talk about... another terrorist act by the russians in kharkiv, tensions around taiwan and the situation in the energy market of ukraine. people's deputy of ukraine, colonel, will be with us today security service of ukraine, roman kostenko, political expert vitaly kulyk and director of the energy research center oleksandr kharchenko. however, before we start our big conversation, let's watch a video of the consequences of today's attack, another

terrorist attack by russia. seven civilians were killed and another 20 were injured in the attacks on kharkiv, they were employees of the factor print printing plant, where magazines, newspapers and other printing were printed, at the time of the enemy strikes there were about fifty employees working there, let's see. you see that there were hits, this is a factory that engaged in printing, notebooks and books were printed here, unfortunately, there was a work shift when

the previous s300 rocket arrived. hitting directly into the workshop where people worked. eternal memory to the dead and death to the russian occupiers. friends, we are working today live on the channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms, for those who are currently watching us on these platforms, please take part in our survey, today we ask you this, are you ready for a promotion electricity prices, yes, no, everything is quite on youtube simply if you watch us on tv pick up your smart phone or phone and vote if you are ready to increase electricity prices 0.800 211 381 no 0800 211 382 all calls to these numbers are:

free vote vote at the end of the program we like here are the results of this vote. our first guest is roman kostenko, people's deputy of ukraine, secretary of the verkhovna rada committee on national security, defense and intelligence, colonel of the security service of ukraine. mr. colonel, i i congratulate you, thank you for being with us today. good evening, back. mr. colonel, let's start our conversation with the situation in kharkiv oblast, the opponent continues. to storm vovchansk in the next two months and will continue to storm while the armed forces of ukraine accumulate forces and means, but the defenders have already begun to receive western ammunition and thanks to this they are holding back the enemy, the commander of the attack drone battalion achilles yury fedorenko said on espresso. let's hear what he said. concerning

bovchansk. for the enemy, this is fundamental.