Ukraine, Briefly

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• The US Defense Department said the latest support package for Ukraine is worth around $1 billion and includes more howitzers, ammo and Harpoon coastal defense systems, CNN reported. Meanwhile, NATO member countries will continue to supply Ukraine with heavy weaponry and long-range systems, even as a new round of support is in the works, said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday, the New York Times added.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his country’s support for Russia on matters of sovereignty and security following a call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Associated Press noted. Xi told Putin that “all parties should responsibly push for a proper settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”

• The UN human rights director said on Wednesday that the agency is looking into accusations that children are being taken from war-torn Ukraine to Russia and subsequently adopted, according to Agence France-Presse. Michelle Bachelet told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that her office “has been looking into allegations of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to the Russian Federation.” Thousands of children are believed to have been sent to Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.