LIVE: US to give Ukraine another $2bn in aid, Putin hails advances on 'all fronts'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday took to the stage of a Kyiv bar for a guitar performance of “Rockin’ in the Free World”, in a bid to send a message of defiance and hope, and highlight that the U.S. and much of the world was fighting not just for Ukraine but for the free world. 

However, Blinken landed in hot water after visuals from his performance sparked an angry backlash from Ukrainians, who chastised Washington’s top diplomat for an ill-judged jam session while Ukrainian troops are fighting in trenches, struggling to hold back a Russian advance amid a shortage of weapons.

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Putin said Russia needs the most modern things that can be used for successful work on the battlefield. He said, "We need to open up the defence ministry as much as possible." 

Blinken said that the United States will provide Ukraine with $2 billion in foreign military financing. 

"We will provide an additional $2 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine. And we put this together in a first-of-its-kind defence enterprise fund, and it has three components. One, is to provide weapons today. So this will assist Ukraine in acquiring those weapons. Two, is to focus as well on something that Dmytro (Kuleba) just talked about, investing in Ukraine's defence industrial base, helping to strengthen even more its capacity to produce what it needs for itself, but also to produce for others. And finally, using this fund to help Ukraine purchase military equipment from other countries, not just the United States, for Ukraine's use," he said at a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. 

Russian airstrikes on Ukraine's southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson injured at least 17 people, local officials said on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Kyiv said that Ukraine can decide for itself whether to strike Russian territory with US weapons. He added that Washington has not encouraged such attacks. 

"We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it's going to conduct this war," Blinken said.

Ukraine has evacuated around 8,000 people from its northeastern Kharkiv region since Russia launched a major ground assault on the area last week, the country's emergency services said Wednesday.

"Around 8,000 people have already been evacuated... Most of them are women, elderly people, people with reduced mobility, and people with disabilities and children," the state emergency services agency said in a post on Telegram.

A Russian aerial strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least two people on Wednesday, the regional governor said.

"The enemy attacked the city of Dnipro. Infrastructure was damaged. As of now, two people died. There are wounded," Dnipropetrovsk Governor Sergiy Lysak said in a post on Telegram. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday hailed his country's troops for advancing on "all fronts" on the battlefield in Ukraine, days after Moscow launched a major new ground assault. 

"In all directions our troops are constantly, every day, improving their positions," Putin told Russia's military leaders, including new Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, in a televised meeting.