WASHINGTON: Media sources report that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Washington on Wednesday, his first known trip outside the country since Russia began its invasion.

A person with knowledge of the situation, two congressional sources, and the visit's schedule were all confirmed. Due to the highly sensitive nature of the trip, they agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. Despite being anticipated, they said Zelenskyy's visit could still be cancelled at the last minute for security reasons.

A speech to Congress on Capitol Hill and a meeting with President Joe Biden are scheduled for the visit to Washington. It occurs as lawmakers prepare to vote on a year-end spending plan that includes about $45 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine and as the United States gets ready to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the nation to aid in thwarting Russia's invasion.

The visit comes a day after Zelenskyy risked his life to travel to Bakhmut in the disputed Donetsk province of Ukraine, which he described as the hotspot on the 1,300-kilometer front line. There, he praised Ukrainian soldiers for their "courage, resilience, and strength" as artillery blasted in the distance.

He thanked Ukrainian troops for their "bravery, resilience and strength shown in repelling the enemy attacks". The surprise visit appeared designed to show Moscow's failure to capture the city.

Russia's invasion of eastern Ukraine has lost momentum, but the conflict remains fiercely contested. Capturing Bakhmut would sever Ukraine's supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to press on toward key cities. The illegally annexed provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are still contested.

In a video released by his office from the Bakhmut visit, Zelenskyy was handed a Ukrainian flag and alluded to delivering it to U.S. leaders.

Zelenskyy said in the video. “We are not in an easy situation. The enemy is increasing its army. Our people are braver and need more powerful weapons. We will pass it on from the boys to the Congress, to the president of the United States."

The most recent tranche of U.S. financing would be the greatest American mixture of help however to Ukraine, over indeed Biden’s $37 billion crisis ask, and guarantee that subsidizing streams to the war exertion for months to come.

On Wednesday, the U.S. was too set to declare that it'll send $1.8 billion in military help to Ukraine in a major bundle that will for the primary time incorporate a Nationalist rocket battery and exactness guided bombs for its warrior planes, U.S. authorities said.

The aid signals a development by the U.S. within the sorts of progressed weaponry it'll send to Ukraine to support its discuss resistances against what has been an expanding torrent of Russian rockets in later weeks. The bundle will incorporate almost $1 billion in weapons from Pentagon stocks and $800 million in subsidizing through the Ukraine Security Help Activity, authorities said.

The decision to send the Patriot battery comes despite threats from Russia's Foreign Ministry that the delivery of the advanced surface-to-air missile system would be considered a provocative step and that the Patriot and any crews accompanying it would be a legitimate target for Moscow's military. It's not clear exactly when the Patriot would arrive on the front lines in Ukraine since U. S. troops will have to train Ukrainian forces on how to use the high-tech system. The training could take several weeks and is expected to be done in Germany.

The visit comes at an important moment as the White House braces for greater resistance from a Republican-controlled House that's signalled it will put more scrutiny on aid for Ukraine in the new Congress. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy has said his party's lawmakers will not write a blank check for Ukraine. Biden and Zelenskyy frequently have held phone calls in coordination with the White House announcing new tranches of military assistance for Ukraine. The calls have been mostly warm, with Biden praising Ukraine for remaining steadfast against the Russians and Zelenskyy thanking the U.S. president for support.

“We are finishing an awfully extraordinary session of the 117th Congress with an enactment that produces advance for the American individuals as well as back for our Democracy,” Pelosi composed Tuesday in a letter to colleagues.

“Please be displayed for a really extraordinary centre on Majority rule government Wednesday night.” Later at the Capitol, Pelosi said of Ukrainians, “They are battling for a vote-based system for all of us.”

For his portion, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hailed the “courage and self-denial” of his powers in Ukraine — but he did so at a ceremony in an extravagant and sparkling lobby at the Kremlin in Moscow, not on the battlefield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Russia's security services for showing "outstanding examples of courage and self-denial on the front line". He presented awards to the heads of the four illegally annexed regions of Ukraine. Unverified videos show a masked man standing near an artillery piece and saying he was ready to meet Zelenskyy.

U K Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said about 100,000 Russian soldiers were "dead, wounded or abandoned" in the invasion.

After 300 days of the war, the UK Ministry of Defense tweeted that Ukraine had liberated about 54% of the maximum amount of additional territory acquired by Russia in aggression.

Russia now controls about 18% of the internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, including eastern Donbas and parts of Crimea, which were occupied in 2014.

Life in the Ukrainian capital has taken a small but welcome step towards normalization with the reopening of Kyiv's two main metro stations for the first time since the start of the war.