Less than 24 hours after revealing it was sending another $100 million military aid package to Ukraine, the Biden administration announced a wave of new sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest banks and girls Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others.

We’ll break down the penalties and give an update on what’s in the latest Kyiv defense package.

It’s Defense and National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend sent you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

New wave of sanctions against Russia

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a wave of new sanctions targeting Russia’s two largest banks, the daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the wife and daughter of Russia’s top diplomat and blacklisted members of the Security Council. Russian security.

A senior administration official said the measures are being imposed in alignment with Group of Seven and European Union allies and are in response to the “sickening brutality” recently uncovered in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian forces.

What motivated the sanctions? : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of committing genocide, while the United States and other international leaders have said footage of civilians found tied up, shot at point-blank range, huddled in cellars and left for deaths in the streets were probably war crimes.

The senior administration official said the United States and its allies are “escalating the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a major economy” and the result is sending Russia “into economic, financial and technological isolation. “. The official added that the country would “return to the Soviet-style standard of living of the 1980s”.

An exclusion: The administration allowed an exclusion for energy, given the EU’s dependence on Russian oil and gas, but said it was working with allied countries to reduce such imports.

The most severe action: The measures announced Wednesday impose full blocking sanctions on Russia’s largest state-owned bank, Sberbank, and its largest private bank, Alfa Bank, freezing all assets ‘touching’ the US financial system and banning Americans from doing business with them. them.

“Any transaction, in any currency, with a U.S. person or U.S. institution is prohibited,” official said of blackout sanctions, targeting Russian efforts to receive payments in currencies other than dollars American in order to circumvent the sanctions.

“This is the toughest step we can take in terms of financial measures,” the official said.

Read the full story here.

US TO SEND ANOTHER $100M IN DEADLY AID TO UKRAINE

The United States is sending up to $100 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.

The State Department and the Pentagon announced the military funding in press releases Tuesday evening. The money will go to Javelin anti-armour systems, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he authorized an immediate withdrawal to meet Ukraine’s need for more anti-armour systems. Levies allow the president to help countries in emergencies without needing legislative approval or budgetary appropriations, according to a Department of Defense manual.

The sixand round: Tuesday night’s levy marks the sixth such allocation the United States has given to Ukraine since August, according to Blinken. The United States has provided Ukraine more than $1.7 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February.

“The world was shocked and appalled by the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha and throughout Ukraine. Ukrainian forces bravely continue to defend their country and their freedom, and the United States, along with our allies and partners, strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Blinken said in a statement.

Read the full story here.

US trains Ukrainian troops on Switchblade drones

A small number of Ukrainian soldiers already in the United States have been trained in the use of Switchblade tactical drones as the US military sends more vehicle-destroying weapons to the former Soviet country, the main doorman said on Wednesday. -word from the Pentagon.

The “very small number” of Ukrainian soldiers, who have been in the United States since last fall for military training, have learned to use the drone in the hope that they will soon return to their country to train others on equipment, press secretary John Kirby told reporters.

“We took the opportunity – still having them in the country – to give them a few days of training on the Switchblade so they could go back – and they will be going home soon – to train others in the Ukrainian Army” , said Kirby.

More drones: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the day before that Switchblades were being sent to Ukraine as part of a $300 million lethal aid package announced by the Pentagon on Friday. He did not say how many, although several outlets reported that 10 of the drones would be delivered.

Bloomberg reported that these Switchblades would be a newer, more advanced version of the “600 series” of drones, which weigh around 50 pounds, can fly more than 24 miles, stay in the air for 40 minutes, and come equipped with a heavier warhead that can damage tanks.

Kirby did not say on Wednesday whether the Switchblade-600 would be sent to Ukraine.

Already sent: The White House has already sent 100 of the drones as part of an $800 million weapons package announced last month, but those Switchblades were the “300-series” versions. This variant weighs less than five pounds, can fly about six miles, hover over a target for about 15 minutes, and is designed to attack personnel and light vehicles.

Learn more here.

RUSSIAN FORCES OUTSIDE kyiv WITHDRAW FULLY

The United States has seen Russian forces withdraw completely from areas around kyiv and Chernihiv to regroup in Belarus and Russia, a senior US defense official said on Wednesday.

“We don’t show Russian forces in or around Kyiv or north of Kyiv, and we don’t show Russian forces in or around Chernihiv,” the official told reporters.

“We have now seen that the Russians have moved north into Belarus and into Russia for refit and resupply. We have seen indications that this redevelopment and restocking is taking place,” the official added.

A group : Russian forces are retreating from positions across Ukraine as Moscow seeks to regroup after what now appears to be a failed invasion of the country from February 24.

From late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to shift his plans from an invasion aimed at overthrowing kyiv to a targeted offensive in Donbass in the east. The move follows the Kremlin’s struggle to take the capital and other major metropolitan areas after encountering fierce Ukrainian forces armed with Western-supplied weapons.

Kremlin troops continue to shell major cities as they make their withdrawal and have launched more than 1,450 missiles against Ukraine since the invasion began, the official said.

Learn more here.

House Democrats worried about impending Iran deal

House Democrats on Wednesday expressed concerns about an impending Iran nuclear deal as efforts by the Biden administration to revive the Obama-era deal are underway.

In a statement and press conference, 18 lawmakers raised everything from concerns about the negotiations to outright opposition to reviving the 2015 deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which traded a sanctions relief against limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

“We understand that while recent negotiations are not over, we believe we cannot remain silent about the unacceptable and deeply troubling turn these results have allegedly taken,” Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) told The Daily Mail. journalists.

The background: Former President Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018, arguing that it was not preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, after which Iran largely stopped complying with the deal.

President Biden pledged during the election campaign to revive the deal, and Iran has been at the negotiating table with other world powers in Vienna over the past year to reach a new deal.

But lawmakers have been skeptical of reviving the deal, with senators on the left and right fearing last month that the Biden administration was being completely transparent about the status of the negotiations.

Democrats’ concerns: Rep. Grace Meng (DN.Y.), who opposed the deal in 2015, said she was again concerned about making public information about the negotiations available.

“Any new deal with Iran must be based on the situation on the ground today, not seven years ago,” Meng said. “It means an agreement that is comprehensive and addresses the full range of threats Iran poses to the region, including its nuclear program, ballistic missile program and terrorist financing.”

Read the full story here.

THE APPOINTMENT FOR TOMORROW

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will brief the media following the second face-to-face meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers at 1:30 a.m. at the alliance headquarters in Brussels
• The National Defense Industrial Association will host a cyber event: “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” featuring Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.); and defense officials at 8:30 a.m.
• David Trachtenberg, vice president of the National Institute for Public Policy, will speak at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event on nuclear deterrence and missile defense at 9 a.m.
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will hold a virtual conference on North Korea’s latest missile threat, with Sydney Seiler, National Intelligence Officer for North Korea at the National Intelligence Council, at 9 a.m.
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies will host a virtual discussion on “Commercial Wireless Networks and National Defense: Emerging Needs, Challenges, and Opportunities,” at 9:30 a.m.
• Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the “Defense Clearance Request Review Position for the Department of Defense’s ‘Fiscal Year 2023 and Future Years Defense Program’, at 9:30 a.m.
• The Atlantic Council will host a virtual discussion on “Managing Strategic Competition to Avoid a US-China War,” with former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, at 2:30 p.m.

WHAT WE READ

That’s all for today! Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!

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