with wholesale bombardments of cities, concentrating on kharkiv, mariupol, millions fled to safety outside the country overland, clogging roads and railways. led by the u.s., ukraine s allies eventually sent better artillery. then rocket launchers, drones, and vital intelligence. too late to help save mariupol, but new weapons have slowed the russian advance in much of the east. where soldiers now refer to fighting in towns as a meat grinder. massive amounts of american money and equipment, fulsome support from countries like the united kingdom have contributed to ukraine s successes on the battlefield. but they re still not getting the strategic weapons they need. fast jets, long range rockets, killer drones. without them, ukrainians now face a crippling war along fixed front lines.
united kingdom have contributed to ukraine s successes on the battlefield, but they re still not getting the strategic weapons that they need. fast jets, long-range rockets, killer drones. without them ukrainians now face a crippling war among fixed front lines and not a victory putin will want, but one he might accept to prevent democracy that s taking doorstep in ukraine spreading into his own home. sam kylie is there. you ve spent so much time there more than any other cnn correspondent. how does it feel now in ukraine, six months in knowing that ukrainians have resisted far better than expected and also knowing that it will be a long time before this war is over. yeah, well, i think that is the three key elements to that, the surprise ability or the surprising ability of the ukrainians to defend themselves and defend their own capital,
trying unsuccessfully to limit funding for treatments. i m not sure i ve ever seen a situation where people who have already given so much had to fight so hard to get so little. and i hope we learn a lesson. the bill could provide health coverage for as many as 3.5 million veterans who have been exposed to burn pit toxins. and remembering vin scully, the iconic voice of the dodgers. and cnn on the ground in ukraine, killer drones in the skies above. walking through trees because they are afraid we might be spotted from above by russian drones.
it s clear why russia is upset. we explain. with russia s war against ukraine about to enter its third month, the battlefield has changed significantly. the region around the capitol kyiv is quieter for now. but u.s. and nato officials warn that a dramatic escalation by russia in eastern ukraine is coming. with that shift and escalation, ukraine needs for weapons are changing and growing. this week, the biden administration announced a weapons package worth $800 million. with new and more sophisticated systems. some of them are reenforcing capabilities that we have already been providing ukraine. and some of them are new capabilities that we have not provided. among the bigger items are mi 17 helicopters. eleven of them. which the u.s. redirected from afghanistan to ukraine. small drones called switchblades. 300 of them. also called killer drones.
also being sent are hundreds of hunter/killer drones called switchblades and howitzer cannons. now, that new batch of u.s. weapons to ukraine should start arriving in the region in the hours ahead. that s according to a pentagon official. cnn s kaitlan collins reports from the white house. reporter: despite this warning from russia that if the united states continues to send more weapons to ukraine, they would risk these unpredictable consequences, you are seeing the united states continue to do so because we do expect in the next 24 hours that first shipment of the latest authorization from president biden of those $800 million in military assistance will arrive in ukraine. and this is the package that is much more sophisticated, heavier duty than some of the previous ones we ve seen from the white house since the invasion started. and of course in the weapons shipments they sent before the invasion actually got under way. that s a new shipment. it s tailored to what the white house