U.S. Defense Chief In Kyiv In Show Of Support For Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ukrainian officials that the United States will send Kyiv "what it needs" for its fight against Russian forces after he arrived in Kyiv on October 21 as Moscow launched a fresh round of attacks on Ukraine's battered cities and infrastructure, injuring more civilians and destroying critical infrastructure.

Austin outlined a $400 million aid package that he said would provide Ukrainian forces with additional munitions, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons drawn from stocks of U.S. military reserves. It is part of support previously announced by the White House.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States is committed to supporting Ukraine with the equipment it needs to strengthen its position on the battlefield, defend against the Kremlin’s brutal aggression, and secure a just and lasting peace.

WATCH: "Providing Ukraine with the support that it needs to prevail is a top priority for the United States," U.S. Undersecretary of State Uzra Zeya told RFE/RL.

U.S. Undersecretary Of State: Ukraine Support Remains 'Top Priority'

"The United States is providing another significant package of urgently needed weapons and equipment to our Ukrainian partners as they defend against Russia’s ongoing attacks," Blinken said in a statement.

Speaking later at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, Austin noted that the United States had delivered more than $58 billion in security assistance for Ukraine since Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion, making it Kyiv's main backer.

"We face a hinge in history," Austin said. "We can continue to stand firm against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's aggression. Or we can let Putin have his way, and we can condemn our children and grandchildren to live in a far bloodier and more dangerous world."

But he did not address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's call for an invitation to join NATO or provide any hit that the United States might endorse other key planks of Zelenskiy's so-called victory plan.

Zelenskiy said in his evening address that the United States was planning a separate aid package for the production of drones in Ukraine.

Commenting on the $400 million defense package, he said the other package would be $800 million and would provide "financing for the production of Ukrainian drones."

Ukraine has been grappling with an increasingly strong Russian advance in the east, where its outmanned, exhausted, and outgunned troops have been forced to gradually cede more ground to Moscow's forces, while its cities have been subjected to virtually daily waves of Russian drone and missile strikes.

On October 21, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said 14 people, including a 12-year-old girl, were wounded in an overnight missile attack on the city of Kryviy Rih.

In Kyiv, a man was wounded by falling debris following a Russian drone strike early on October 21, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, said on Telegram.

In the southern region of Zaporizhzhya, six people were wounded -- two of them seriously -- by Russian shelling, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.

In a video published in Telegram, Fedorov added that several public facilities were damaged, including kindergartens, school dormitories, and residential apartment blocks.

Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force said that its air defenses shot down 59 out of the 116 drones launched by Russia at 12 of its regions -- Odesa, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Vinnytsya, Khmelnytskiy, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Poltava.

During a visit to Turkey, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on October 21 for more Western support to curb Russian strikes on Ukrainian Black Sea port infrastructure, which have recently grown in intensity, causing substantial damage to port infrastructure and Ukrainian transport vessels.