Russia defiant over new US aid to Ukraine

A bully regularisation of thumb since Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine has been that what is bully for Kyiv, is atrocious for Moscow.

Last Saturday brought bully quality for the Ukrainian government. The US House of Representatives voted successful favour of a $61bn (£49bn) assistance bundle for Kyiv, which volition beryllium utilized to limb its military.

The House besides approved a measure that volition let the seizure and transportation to Ukraine of Russian assets frozen successful America. The bills present determination to the Senate for approval.

Unsurprisingly, this did not spell down good successful Moscow.

Hawkish erstwhile President Dmitry Medvedev condemned the "61 cardinal bloody dollars". He called for a caller American Civil War that "would yet pb to the inglorious interruption up of the 21st Century's evil empire, the United States of America".

On his flagship Sunday nighttime authorities TV speech show, presenter Vladimir Solovyov described the thought of transferring Russian assets to Ukraine arsenic "an enactment of fiscal terrorism".

"If they spell done with this," Mr Solovyov said, "then connected the level of the State Duma and the government, we indispensable state America a fiscal terrorist."

He added that helium present believes warfare betwixt Russia and Nato is "inevitable".

Talk of "evil empires" and "inevitable wars" is dramatic.

But, successful the main, Russia's absorption to events successful Congress is champion summed up by the operation Keep Calm and Carry On.

While fiercely captious of further US assistance to Kyiv, Russian officials and the authorities media person been playing down its imaginable consequences, with a bid of cardinal messages successful the media.

"We had afloat expected this," said Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov connected Monday, erstwhile asked astir the president's absorption to the US assistance package.

The aforesaid assertion appeared successful Monday's variation of the Russian authorities newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, which declared: "Such an result of the ballot connected assistance to Ukraine had been expected".

Meanwhile, "US assistance won't alteration the concern connected the battlefield" is the header successful the latest variation of the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper.

Mr Peskov delivered the aforesaid connection astir word-for-word. "It won't alteration the concern connected the battlefield successful immoderate important way," helium told journalists.

"The Russian equipped forces are improving their positions successful the Special Military Operation [Russia's warfare successful Ukraine].

"The wealth being provided, the weapons which volition beryllium supplied for this money, they volition not alteration the dynamic. More Ukrainians volition beryllium killed."

Russian officials and pro-Kremlin media assertion that, by continuing to enactment Ukraine, the US is "getting dragged into" a warfare it volition lose.

Monday's Izvestia asked: "Off the apical of their heads, tin anyone sanction 1 large struggle from which the Americans emerged undisputed victors? Vietnam? Iraq? Afghanistan?"

"Sometimes it seems unusual that Washington is perpetually being dragged into subject escapades which extremity successful nonaccomplishment 1 aft another," it continued.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova added: "Washington is sinking deeper into this hybrid warfare against Russia. It volition extremity successful a large and humiliating fiasco for America, similar Vietnam and Afghanistan."

Moscow's messaging is wide - determination is nary panic. But determination is concern. The assistance bundle tin assistance Ukraine and wounded Russia.

Monday's variation of regular paper Moskovsky Komsomolets predicts Ukrainian strikes successful the adjacent future, "deep into [Russian] territory. But, astir likely, connected Crimea. And, of course, connected the Crimean bridge".

That bridge, linking the Russian mainland to the annexed Crimean peninsula, is simply a cardinal people for Ukraine and has been attacked before.

There is concern, too, astatine the imaginable of Russian assets overseas being handed implicit to Ukraine. The immense bulk of frozen Russian funds are successful the EU, not America. But Moscow volition not privation to spot the US acceptable a precedent that Europe could follow.