March 4, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Sophie Tanno, Matt Meyer, Adrienne Vogt and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 2242 GMT (0642 HKT) March 4, 2023
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3:29 a.m. ET, March 4, 2023

US Attorney General Merrick Garland makes unannounced trip to Ukraine

From CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz

Left to right: Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, US Attorney General Merrick Garland, and National Prosecutor of Poland Dariusz Barski meet in Lviv, Ukraine, with a group of international prosecutors on Friday.
Left to right: Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, US Attorney General Merrick Garland, and National Prosecutor of Poland Dariusz Barski meet in Lviv, Ukraine, with a group of international prosecutors on Friday. (Roman Baluk/Reuters)

US Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced trip to Ukraine on Friday, his second trip to the country since Russia invaded a little more than a year ago.

The trip was not announced for security reasons, according to a Justice Department official.

Garland was invited to Lviv by the Ukrainian prosecutor general, the official said, and joined President Volodymyr Zelensky at the “United for Justice Conference.”

The attorney general “held several meetings and reaffirmed our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbor,” the official said.

The trip comes nearly two weeks after President Joe Biden made his first trip to Ukraine since the war began and is one of several trips made by members of Biden’s Cabinet. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also recently made a trip to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky.

The Justice Department has taken several steps to hold the Russian government and its supporters accountable since the invasion began.

On Wednesday, Garland testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he believed the Russian government was committing crimes against humanity and said the Justice Department supports efforts by The Hague to investigate and prosecute those crimes.

“The United States supports what is now being developed in The Hague, sponsored by Eurojust, looking into the possibility of creating that court [to charge crimes of aggression],” Garland testified.
“There are concerns that we have to take into account with respect to how that might deal with our own service members and other circumstances,” he continued. “We have to be sure that the appropriate guardrails are up. But we support any number of different ways in which war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the potential for crimes against aggression are investigated.”

7:12 a.m. ET, March 4, 2023

US will send rockets, ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine in new $400 million aid package

From CNN's Oren Liebermann

The United States announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine on Friday that is valued at up to $400 million.

This is the thirty-third presidential drawdown on US inventories, totaling more than $32 billion, used to aid Ukraine since Russian's full-scale invasion began more than one year ago.

In a drawdown, the Defense Department pulls weapons and equipment from US inventories to send abroad, rather than purchasing new weapons from manufacturers.

“This package features more ammunition and support equipment for Ukraine’s precision fires, artillery, and armored vehicle operations," the Defense Department wrote in a statement.

CNN reported earlier Friday key details of the package, including that the aid would include Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges for the first time, a system used to launch bridges to cross trenches and narrow water obstacles.

Here's a look at the weapons, munitions and equipment included in the package:

  • Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
  • Additional 155mm artillery rounds
  • Additional 105mm artillery rounds
  • Additional 25mm ammunition
  • Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges
  • Demolition munitions and equipment for obstacle clearing
  • Testing and diagnostic equipment to support vehicle maintenance and repair
  • Spare parts and other field equipment

Last week, the US announced $2 billion in aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which contracts with the industry to procure the supplies and takes more time.

Ukrainian officials have also been pushing to obtain US F-16 fighter jets, which President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have opposed so far.