To start, from today’s Berkshire Eagle, a link to a column by the newspaper’s James Brooke, a visiting fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies; more HERE about a chamber choir concert honoring Ukraine war victims at which Brooke will give introductory remarks tonight at 7:30. Next, two Associated Press and Reuters reports; for more of the agencies’ reports, click on their names below. — MCM

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Massive U.S. military aid headed to Ukraine, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle As Russia bombs Ukraine’s railroad network, Moscow knows what will come down the tracks this summer: $54 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine. Approved by the U.S. Senate on Thursday, this aid is 200 times larger than last year’s aid of $275 million. . . . It is more than the $47 billion in U.S. foreign aid given to all countries in 2019. Reflecting bipartisan congressional support, Idaho Republican Jim Risch told Bloomberg: “Ronald Reagan spent eight years bringing down the Soviet Union and freeing the countries in its orbit. We are all in.” The news is percolating into Russia, a tightly controlled information space where the press . . . Berkshire Eagle subscribers may click HERE to read more.

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Russia’s claim of Mariupol’s capture fuels concern for POWs, by Elena Becatoros, Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Ciaran McQuillan | The Associated Press POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russia’s claimed seizure of a Mariupol steel plant that became a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a badly wanted victory in the war he began, capping a nearly three-month siege that left a city in ruins and more than 20,000 residents feared dead. After the Russian Defense Ministry announced late Friday . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia halts gas flow to Finland, intensifies push for Donbas, by Pavel Polityuk and Terje Solsvik | Reuters * Weeks-long siege ends at Azovstal, Russia says * Russia intensifies offensive in Donbas * Russia stops Finland gas flows over payment dispute * Russian military says destroyed Western arms in Zhytomyr region | KYIV/OSLO — Russia stopped providing gas to Finland in an escalation of a row over energy payments with the West today, and intensified an offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. . . .  Russia is waging what appears to be a major offensive in Luhansk, one of two provinces in Donbas. . . . Moscow wants to seize the last remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas. READ MORE . . .

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TO BE CONTINUED