President Joe 

Biden will ask Congress to fund a new Ukraine

aid package Thursday, two sources familiar with the matter
told NBC News, as the West steps up its support for Kyiv and
embraces a more ambitious goal of weakening Russia despite
intensifying threats and action from the Kremlin.
Biden’s White House remarks will come after Russian
President Vladimir Putin warned of “lightning fast”
retaliation against any countries that interfere in Ukraine,
where Russian forces increased their attacks on the country’s
east in search of a military breakthrough.
The Kremlin’s move to cut off gas supplies to Poland and
Bulgaria, two NATO members, left Europe confronting the
prospect of an energy crisis as the conflict increasingly
extends into a broader standoff with Russia over economic
sanctions and military shipments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of
using gas and trade as weapons, even as his efforts to rally
support for his country’s defensive cause appeared to be
succeeding despite Putin’s efforts to weaken the West’s
resolve. Zelenskyy will hold talks with United Nations
Secretary-General António Guterres in Kyiv on Thursday,
after Guterres met with Putin earlier this week to promote
diplomacy and efforts to evacuate civilians trapped in
Mariupol.
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Odesa governor says Ukraine shot down three Russian missiles over
region
Phil McCausland
6m ago / 11:57 PM IST
KYIV, Ukraine — Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the
Odesa region, said that the Ukrainian air defense had shot
down three Russian missiles over the region.
The attempted strike comes less than a week after the
Russians struck an apartment complex in Odesa, killing at
least eight and injuring at least 18 others. A mother and baby
were among the dead.
The Russians also hit a bridge near Odesa on Tuesday.
Marchenko believed they aimed to cut off a portion of the
larger Odesa administrative region. A second missile landed
nearby and another landed in the water.
"Thank God there are no victims," Marchenko said.
Russian leaders have said recently that they aim to take over
the entire Ukrainian coastline, likely aiming to connect to
the Russian-occupied region of Transnistria.