the war in the middle east, support for ukraine, and relations between armenia and azerbaijan. our european correspondent, bohdan tsyupin, will tell us more about what the ministers discussed. hello, bohdan. please tell us what was discussed at the meeting of ministers today and what issues were discussed in the context of ukraine? when it comes to ukraine, one of the main issues for the european union remains the agreement on a large package of military aid. for 5 billion euros, let me remind you that this is separate from what is provided to ukraine on at the bilateral level of european states for ukraine, in particular germany is the leader in this aid in europe, when it comes to pan-european funds, this 5-day package of military aid remains, in fact, unique when it comes to actions.

of the european union, because in fact the eu has not yet taken care of military affairs, and as far as we know , one of the obstacles in this case remains the position of hungary . of the european union, joseph borel, said that he hopes to resolve and approve the settlement: this issue, perhaps the most remarkable feature of these ministerial meetings in luxembourg was that the issue of ukraine was in second place on the draft agenda, after the issue of the war against israel against hamas, despite european representatives emphasized that they do not forget ukraine, and in particular, the representative of lithuania emphasized this. we cannot forget about ukraine, where

the situation is not the easiest, we see a renewed russian offensive, this reminds us that the russians waiting for situations where we pay attention to something else, so they can resume their attacks. i hope that with the help of funding, we will be able to send a message that europe is committed to defining the defense of ukraine as a priority. we began to pride ourselves on the fact that we will support ukraine as much as... we can, but now we have to adapt to a world where many crises have arisen. not only ukraine is on this map, but also israel and palestine, a potential crisis between azerbaijan and armenia. well, actually, bohdan, regarding whether partners can support ukraine and israel at the same time. here in the us , it has been repeatedly emphasized that the war in the middle east will not affect support for ukraine, since ukraine and israel are fighting different types of warriors and have different capabilities and needs. i suggest listening to the spokesperson's statement.

state department goal miler right now. i can't talk about specific weapons systems until we make an announcement about exactly what we're providing to israel in response to their request, of course, as well as in accordance with future aid packages that we will provide to ukraine. overall, what israel has asked for has very little in common with what ukraine has asked for and what they need, and to the extent that it does, we will work hard to make sure that we supply both countries with what they need. for defense, but as the president said last week, it also means we need congress to pass an additional request for assistance. well, yes, the question of artillery shells of 155 mm caliber is also interesting, because, for example, the new york times writes with reference to sources in the us ministry of defense that tens of thousands of these projectiles, which were supposed to be transferred to ukraine, will be handed over to israel, and on monday at the briefing , pentagon spokesman petrider assured that the us will support israel and ukraine and, according to his own estimates, will not fail. problems with the supply

of these shells to both countries, as the us and its allies constantly increase their production. bohdan, we know that the demand for these breakfasts is now so great that global production cannot meet it, and so wwii will definitely prompt compromises what is the position of european countries regarding the distribution of aid? well, at the moment, the distribution of aid, when it comes to military aid, and the europeans, in fact, does not go.... the only country from which we heard such loud statements about military aid to israel from europe came from germany, instead, we hear much more, when it comes to europeans, moral and political support for israel, and when it comes to aid, i would say that we hear much more about humanitarian aid, humanitarian aid specifically for the palestinian

population, the civilian palestinian population of the gaza strip, who are suffering as a result of this de facto war between israel and hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in europe, as well as in the united states. thank you bohdan, i know that also, the last question will be about military aid in full and how it will affect the counteroffensive of ukrainian troops this winter. i know you've spoken to british analysts about this, what are their expectations? well, now we have to sum up the results of the summer ukrainian counteroffensive, which lasted so long according to various calculations, this counteroffensive, four or five months according to the calculations of some others, and they believe that in fact the time of the summer

hostilities of 2023 is coming, is coming to an end, the most important thing is what you are probably hearing about now, the most... from european commentators, observers, and in particular from specialists here in europe, it is clear that russia is not ready to wind down its hostilities against ukraine, despite the fact that the russians are not achieving, are not able to achieve their main tasks, which were announced by the president of russia , vladimir putin, and in particular, one of of the most authoritative military historians here in great britain, laurence freedman. told me that this is a feature, a feature of moscow, a feature of russia, which is decisive in this situation?

regarding russia, it is difficult to say, if it was another country, today we talked about trying to find a way out, because it will not gain anything, it will not achieve its main goal, it is humiliating and useless, but i believe that putin is afraid to admit defeat, admit not ... the possibility of taking under his control all those territories that he called the conquest of russia. so that's my conclusion about a year is that we need to be ready for all of this to continue. this does not mean that this will be the case, but we do not know exactly what will happen in russia to such an extent that we expect big changes, big changes in the directions of russian policy. and this means that you need to be ready for the continuation. but it also means that hostilities must be aimed at influencing political decisions, not just about gaining a little more territory. this is laurence's opinion, laurence friedman. actually, the idea that chotobak is important now, perhaps even less possible,

in this situation is the breakthrough of these powerful defensive fortifications that russia has built in the south of ukraine, trying to hold back. territory, this is not the most common thing that is now heard from military experts, who, in particular, say that these fortifications make it difficult to break through with the help of one such reinforced, armored or armored fist, instead, for example, from a military expert from the royal institute of united services, here in london, in his latest report, it is said that during the winter, it is probably important for ukraine to focus on preventing the russians from settling down again for the winter and expanding their defensive fortifications even more, so the most important thing, according to jack

watling, the author of this study , is to extract, to extract the occupiers from their fortifications, and not to give them the opportunity to strengthen further in the captured territories. during the winter of 2022-23 , fierce clashes took place on a large area of ​​the front, but ukrainian attempts to change the lane controls were limited. the absence of the threat of an offensive by the armed forces allowed russia to build three wide defensive strips with mines, trenches and obstacles, which this summer complicated the offensive operations of ukraine. if ukraine does not continue to put pressure on russian positions this winter, there is a risk that those defensive lines will be expanded, so kyiv must combine the restoration of its forces with maintaining pressure on russian troops. thank you bohdan, i will remind you that about the meeting of foreign ministers in luxembourg, support for

ukraine, as well as expectations from the winter counteroffensive, bohdan tsyupan told us from london. the white house expects congress to approve a joint request for additional funding for ukraine and. israel john kirby, a representative of the us national security council, said this at a briefing on monday. we washed them together, because we believe that both are important. every dollar we ask for additional funding. need to be allocated urgently, therefore we call on the congress to move as soon as possible - said the official. he also emphasized that there is significant bipartisan support in congress for continued aid both countries. meanwhile, the us congress cannot consider the president's request because the house of representatives still does not have a speaker. after congressman jim jordan fell short of the required number of votes for the third time, he eventually withdrew his candidacy. on sunday, it became known that nine new candidates are now competing for the nomination within the republican party. candidates, it is expected that the likely nominee will be announced as early as tuesday. at least three-quarters

of congressmen are ready to support the request for financing aid to ukraine from administration of president biden. this is the opinion of the former us ambassador to ukraine, william taylor. he insists that there is strong support for ukraine in the congress, and it is only necessary to elect the speaker of the house of representatives and put this issue to a vote. meanwhile , former ambassador maria ivanovych emphasizes that the continuation of funding to ukraine is not only in the interests of national security. of the united states, but also economically beneficial for america, their direct speech further. congress continues to support ukraine on a bipartisan basis, and the house of representatives, and the senate will approve this aid package for ukraine. i'm sure. we just have to put it to a vote. we have to elect a speaker of the house of representatives and then put him to a vote. when it comes to a vote in the house of representatives, i predict. 3/4 of congressmen will support him, i predict that he will get 80%

of the votes in the senate. there is strong support for ukraine in the congress. we just have to get this package through the house and senate. ukraine needs $61 billion, which president biden is asking for. this is both in the military and in economic, humanitarian and energy terms. that's what she needs, and that's what she needs for next year, and that's what president biden is asking for. that's what the republicans and democrats in the senate are insisting, that's what the majority of the house republicans and democrats are insisting , that's what she needs, and i predict she'll get it, and the farmers of wagah and the truckers of all the usa, they are good people, these are good americans who know about good and evil, russia is evil, putin is evil, the united states care about the support of ukrainians and others who defend our values, our values ​​against. stand against evil and punish those who commit these crimes.

now there are different views on whether ukraine should continue to receive funding or not, but i am confident that ukraine will continue to receive funding, we saw the big package that the biden administration just sent to capitol hill, it is extremely important, we can support ukraine, we can support israel, we can support taiwan, we can also solve... issues on borders, all these things are critical, we are a big, powerful country, we can do all these things, i think it is in the interests of our national security, because if russia succeeds in ukraine, it will continue to move forward, we know it, we see it, if ukraine doesn't stop russia in ukraine, and we don't help them to do it, at some point we will have to confront russia at a certain time and place that may not be our choice, and so helping ukraine to stop russia... right now is extremely importantly, there is also an economic one the reason is because for very little money, less than

5% of our national defense budget, we are helping ukraine to destroy the russian army. the russian army and russia itself are considered by the usa and many of our allies, most of our allies threaten not only european security, but also world security. my colleague iryna shinkarenko, who currently works for ukrainska, spoke with the ambassadors. action summit in washington, this is already the third advocacy campaign in support of ukraine in congress and about half a thousand caring americans, representatives of the diaspora, military and activists from ukraine meet with senators and congressmen and explain what help is needed now and why washington should support ukraine. summit participant khrystyna shkudor, who represents the pr army organization, told about what ukrainian voice of america activists emphasize in their conversations with american legislators today. the most important issue that was the focus of all three ukrainian action summits during

all three times was financial assistance to ukraine, because without financial assistance we we understand that a counteroffensive is very difficult to call a success, we insist on this, it is primarily financial assistance to ukraine for the 24th year, and then we also insist on giving ukraine more weapons. we are talking about long-range missiles, we are also talking about the f-16, planes that we have also been talking about for the past year and a half, we say that it is possible to speed up the training of ukrainian pilots on the f-16, and of course we want in general, the american senate and congress condemned the acts of genocide of the russian federation against the ukrainian people. also, we want a resolution to be adopted regarding the ukrainian victory, and the most painful issue that

i deal with in the project where are our people is violent. deportation of ukrainians, both ukrainian children and adults. in general, according to the united nations and the office of the ombudsman, from 2.8 million to 4.5 million ukrainians were deported to the russian federation since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. we move on to news from ukraine. the heating season has already started there, and this means an even greater load on energy belt, which was damaged by 50% after last year's shelling of russia. to what extent it was possible to restore energy facilities and whether ukrainians will have long blackouts this season, lesya bakalets found out. this is one of the electrical substations, of which there are dozens across ukraine. we cannot say where it is located. due to russian missile attacks, all ukrainian energy facilities have an increased level of protection. behind us, the transformer on which there was an enemy attack,

a shahid flew at night and hit it, it caught fire. it was extinguished for several days, because the specifics of the equipment, it smolders for a long time, burns for a long time. the attack happened more than six months ago, and the flames from the transformer can still be heard. oleksandr, an employee of the substation, shows us other consequences of the shelling, here is this concrete foundation, what is still left of the control panel building, it was hit by a rocket. all employees and local favorite aza the cat survived. it was such a dull explosion, and immediately they fell into. the steering wheel, that is , the substation went out, the cat, the day before the arrival, she ran somewhere for a walk, her in that there was no time, that is, she seemed to feel that, according to ukrenergo, during last year's shelling, half of the ukrainian energy system was damaged, the fraudster also hit the company's central building. we are not talking about damage to a hole in the fence, we are talking about

something that flew into the marching hall, damaged some power unit or damaged an electrical part. from which power is issued and distributed to the grid, every power plant, large, thermal and hydro in this country was damaged. therefore , the repair work on energy facilities has already started last winter and has not stopped until now. we had stop work all winter, we fixed something, a month later two rockets arrived again. and repairs in the energy sector are a complex and lengthy process, experts say. just to replace a burned-out transformer with a working one within the substation is a month of work. plus specific parts for the manufacture of which you have to wait for months. you broke half of the system and now you have a repair season for the next three years - that's 52 weeks a year. on september 11 , the first transformer, the so-called autotransformer, arrived. that's the same the thing weighs 146 tons and is very technological, which

took nine months to produce. this is the first to arrive. we need several dozen. therefore, there is a certain time, unfortunately, absolutely. it is physically necessary , we cannot change it with a magic wand, at the same time, experts assure that everything that could be fixed has been done, and the ability of ukrainian energy to survive this winter is optimistically assessed. we have a denser air defense system, we start from scratch, but we still have one advantage - this is our experience. we are now much better prepared organizationally, and from the point of view of experience, how to counter such phenomena that no one in the world has ever encountered. we... during the last winter had many international delegations, almost all government officials who came to visit ukraine, they were certainly interested in the state of our energy system, it was a top topic and almost everyone asked this question, how do we manage it?

ukrainian energy workers are also building systems for the protection of objects , some, let's say, actions are constantly being taken to strengthen the protection of the substation, yes, work, work is being carried out, what kind of actions you can't say, right, no, this, this is a secret, indeed, some elements can be covered with engineering protection, without eh, unnecessary details, i will say that we are doing this, again, for the first time in the world of such solutions of protection against missiles and drones, such as shaket 136, for example, there is simply no way in the world to protect objects... infrastructure, electrical, for example, substations from this type of threats, they, such solutions did not exist, they had to be blamed, in general, this year's ukrainian winter will depend on two factors: they say experts and the weather and attacks are very strong will affect how the winter will pass.

if we assume that the winter is very warm, very continental-european, we are wet, mostly plus, minus a little, -2-3° and no one attacks us, then it is quite likely that we can go through the winter even or without any shutdowns, or with very little. and almost imperceptible outages. british intelligence and ukrainian authorities have already warned that russia may be preparing missile attacks on ukraine's energy infrastructure. energy experts say they are prepared for the worst-case scenario, even if the scale of the shelling will be the same as last year. but ukrainians are also asked to prepare. a supply of water, no-cook food, power banks and any possible alternative power sources will again be a necessity this winter. lesya bekalets, voice of america. from kyiv, not

david beckham himself, jordan, the eldest son of the famous ukrainian football player andriy shevchenko, is a student at yale university since september. this is one of the most famous and prestigious universities not only in the united states, but also in the whole world. after entering the university, jordan began to study ukrainian language and history. he is also a volunteer in a ukrainian home, collecting funds with friends. for help and cheers very much for the victory of ukraine. iryna solomko and pavlo cherikhov met with jordan at yale university. friends, hello, i'm jordan shevchenko. jordan shevchenko, the eldest son of the famous ukrainian football player andriy shevchenko, is taking his first steps in learning the ukrainian language. he is studying his father's language as a student at yale university, one of the most prestigious and prestigious universities in the usa and the world. jordan was born in italy when his dad played for milan. at the age of one, when andriy shevchenko signed a contract with london chelsea, the family moved to the capital of great britain, where jordan lived all his life. however, he decided to get a higher education in the homeland of his mother, kristan

pazik. i decided pretty early on that i wanted to go to university here. i think it's because i've never lived in america, and i'm half american, so i've always wanted to be able to live in america. so when i applied, i focused only on the us. i was very lucky, i applied to yelshy. university during early selection and entered. even at school, jordan was interested in international relations, at yale he decided to combine them with economics, he says, his father is proud of his choice and supports him in every way. he is happy when i am happy. he knew i really wanted to get here. he was happy to support me on this path. i am very grateful to him for everything. jordan admits, despite his father's star reputation, he never dreamed of being a professional football player - he says. likes to play football with friends, but no more. andriy shevchenko pressed his son and accepted his choice. but one of my younger brothers, he's trying

to get into professional football now, so he's got all this responsibility to his father's authority. but we all tried to help him deal with it and show him that he doesn't have to be the same player as dad. he can go his own way. he received his first call-up to the national under-21 team. we are all happier for him. jordan says: in contrast to great britain, where the father is still often recognized by streets, in sha it is much easier for him, although he is already used to excessive attention to his family. when i go with my father, for example, to football, people recognize him and i have to step aside so that they can take a picture with him, and when i was younger, it was not easy for me, but it happened so often in my life, that i'm used to it. jordan admits that he is proud to be half. a ukrainian, his full acquaintance with his father's homeland began when andriy shevchenko returned to kyiv dynamo, and every summer the family came to kyiv for several months. we lived either in my father's apartment

or in my grandmother's house, so i have many pleasant memories of communication with relatives, especially about my grandmother's meals. there was a lot of delicious home-cooked food, but again, i felt like i couldn't touch that side of me deeply at the time, including because of the language barrier. jordany has his favorite special place in kyiv, it is the olimpiyskiy stadium, he says, he often saw his father play live, and those matches he saw were all at the olympic the most special was the euro 2012 game, when ukraine played against sweden and my dad scored two goals. these were very special moments, but not just the game, but the whole atmosphere, being part of the ukrainian fans before the match, and then celebrating together in the streets. and what, however, a full-scale invasion became decisive for jordan's self-identification as a ukrainian. he recalls how the whole family spent the first days waiting for news from their grandmother and aunt, who were trying

to leave kyiv and. before that i did not really support my ukrainian side, but how just started the war, i felt it was my duty, because the reality is that being ukrainian is now under threat, so people who are ukrainians really need to come together and show why we are important as a country, why we are important as people help jordan to discover more about the ukrainian in himself yale university, he started studying the ukrainian language, there is no separate course at yale yet, but the university agreed on online education for its students at columbia university. thanks to professor timothy snyder's lectures, jordan is learning ukrainian history i do not understand that for most of its history, ukraine was under the influence of external forces, the commonwealth from the west, muscovy from the east, then the ottomans from the south, all fighting for this land. and it 's almost repeating itself in a way, because we have this outside force that's trying to claim our lands, to threaten our freedom, but

we're going to... go down without a fight. in addition to studying history and language, jordan is a volunteer at the ukrainian house at yale. in the ukrainian student community, he is responsible for fundraising. i helped my dad to do it, i did it myself at school. we have our table on campus, talk about the war and collect donations, and in exchange for these donations we give out stickers, pens, cards, anything related to ukraine as a thank you for your support. he says that his father is proud of the fact that he is learning the language on a voluntary basis. work i still can't speak ukrainian with him, i can use a few words in a conversation, and i think it shows for him that i take the initiative, it's important for me that i'm ukrainian, i finally back it up with actions. jordan says he wants as much as possible to use studies at yale university, or in the future to be able to help with the acquired knowledge and connections in the reconstruction of ukraine. glory to ukraine. iryna

solomko, pavlo terikhov, voice of america. download the voice of america mobile app. the application allows you to bypass blocking automatically thanks to the built-in vpn service. read news, watch informative programs and videos, and also listen to podcasts of the ukrainian voice of america service. andriy shevchenko is the undisputed hero of every ukrainian, and we thank you. iryna solomko, what told the story of his son, who is also a patriot of ukraine. i suggest you watch the full version of this story, as well as its text version, on our youtube channel and on the voice of america ukrainian website. we also have various social networks, we are represented in telegram, facebook, instagram, x. and on this we will say goodbye, i encourage you to also watch our daily briefings at 6 pm on youtube and facebook, where you can ask my colleagues ostap yarysh and yulia your questions live.

thank you for that. congratulations, today i will tell a very unusual story that cannot leave anyone indifferent. this time we are looking for the missing child, on the contrary, the parents, the parents of this 12-year-old boy, whose name is roma kyriak. the methodologist of the children's shelter in the village of rozhishche , volyn region, contacted our hotline 1163. she said that

the boy was admitted to their institution on september 29, and since then , unfortunately, none of his relatives have been looking for the child. maybe someone will recognize roman, someone will provide some information, someone, well, somehow lead him to family, closer. we rely only on you. now, with your help, we must do everything possible to find the relatives of 12-year-old roma or anyone else as soon as possible. who may know information about them. first of all, i talked to the boy himself and at the same time did not ask him questions about his family, mother and did not inquire about details that could psychologically traumatize the child. hello, please tell us a little about yourself, where do you study, what is your real name and how old are you? my name is roma, i am 12 years old.