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The United States intends to strengthen its strategic defense partnership with Ukraine, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

He said this at a joint briefing with Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrii Taran in Kyiv on Tuesday, October 19, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Austin said that he met with Taran a few weeks ago at the Pentagon and today they had a productive discussion on the U.S.-Ukraine Strategic Defense Framework that they signed in Washington in August. He said the U.S. and Ukraine intended to strengthen their strategic partnership.

In this context, he recalled that during President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington, President Joe Biden noted that U.S. support for Ukraine's sovereignty is unwavering.

The United States condemns the occupation of Crimea and calls on Russia to end the war in eastern Ukraine, to end destabilizing actions in the Black Sea and along its border with Ukraine, and to stop cyberattacks against the United States and its allies and partners, Austin said.

He also recalled that the United States has allocated more than $2.5 billion since 2014 to strengthen the Ukrainian Armed Forces and ensure the protection of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

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U.S. will strengthen strategic defense partnership with Ukraine Austin - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

Ukraine has received another load of United States government's foreign technical assistance. This is the second batch the American partners delivered for the needs of Ukraines Armed Forces following the agreements reached during President Volodymyr Zelenskys recent visit to the United States.

Thats according to Colonel Oleksandr Matiychuk, Ukraine Armys Medical Service Foreign Economic Affairs Commissioner, Ukrinform reports referring to the defense ministry press service.

"As of today, the second batch of goods received under the agreement is being unloaded. In order to achieve full interoperability of Ukraines Armed Forces with NATO Allies, the Cabinet of Ministers has implemented the President's initiative on medical equipment and armaments supply," Matiychuk said.

It is noted that the third consignment of U.S. aid is expected to arrive in the near future.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on October 10, Ukraine received the first batch of U.S. government aid, including medical equipment, weapons, ammunition, etc.

Besides the previously agreed $250 million worth of aid, Ukraine is receiving from American partners medical equipment, weapons, ammunition, high-precision weaponry, and radar surveillance worth another $60 million with cargoes arriving in several batches.

Earlier it was reported that during President Volodymyr Zelenskys working visit to the United States, the parties signed a Framework Agreement on Strategic Foundations of Defense Partnership between the two countries defense agencies, as well as an intergovernmental agreement on research, development, testing, and assessment projects.

The Ministry of Defense says Ukraine since 2014 has received from the U.S. logistical support totaling over $2 billion.

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So far, a total of 6.4 million people have been fully vaccinated in Ukraine, while another 7.9 million have received a single dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Thats according to Deputy Health Minister, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin, who spoke at a press conference hosted by Ukrinform.

Some 7.9 million people have already received at least a single dose, while 6.4 million have been fully vaccinated. Among the priority groups, 82% of physicians have been vaccinated with at least a dose, as well as 81% of educators and 95% military servicemen, Kuzin said.

According to the health official, the priority group that remains least vaccinated is the elderly as just 23% of them, or a bit over 2 million people, received their first dose of the vaccine.

Kuzin noted that more than 14 million doses of various vaccines are available in Ukraine. Each citizen can choose among the three vaccines of different action type. "If one doesnt suit you, there are always another two choices," he said, noting that it is unlikely that people have contraindications to all three vaccines available in Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, since the onset of the pandemic, a total of 241,475,527 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed across the world, including 4,914,142 fatalities.

In the past 24 hours, Ukraine health officials confirmed 9,524 new COVID-19 cases, as well as177 coronavirus-related deaths, 3,127 hospital admissions, and 3,421 recoveries.

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Russian Team Spirit esports club won The International, the annual competitive video gaming tournament, on Oct. 17.

The team consisting of two Ukrainians and three Russians won $18.2 million from a record prize pool of $40 million during the Dota 2 online game event in Bucharest. The International is the biggest esports event by prize pool and viewership.

The prize money will go to the Russian owners of Team Spirit and two players Ukrainians Ilya Mulyarchuk, 18, and Miroslav Kolpakov, 21, which makes them millionaires.

Ukrainian player Mulyarchuk said in an interview that he could buy a house and a home for his cat with the prize money, while Kolpakov wants to buy a house and a car for his father.

As esports athletes, Mulyarchuk and Kolpakov have earned over $3.6 million each in prize money in total since 2020.

This is the second time in history that Ukrainian players have won The International. The countrys most popular esports club Natus Vincere, or NaVi, triumphed in 2011, in the inaugural competition with a mere prize pool of $1.6 million.

During the tournament, 18 teams, five players each, competed in an online game called Dota 2, created by the U.S. video game developer Valve. In Dota 2, esports athletes control characters with special abilities, who occupy and defend premises on a virtual map. The team, which first destroys the main building within its rivals territory wins the game.

The prize for Dota 2 players is growing every year as more people get involved in esports and contribute to the prize pool by purchasing in-game items such as equipment or special abilities for their characters with real money. In 2018, the prize pool was $25 million and reached over $34 million in 2019.

The International was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Valve decided to hold the tournament without a live audience. It broadcasted the competition online in multiple languages, attracting millions of viewers. At first, Dota 2 athletes were supposed to play in Stockholm, but due to the issues with their visas, they relocated to Bucharest.

For Team Spirit, The International is a big triumph no one expected the club will succeed in the competition, the analysts said.

The founder of Team Spirit, Russian esports player Nikita Chukalin, 26, is among the most influential people in the Eastern European esports industry, according to Forbes. Since the club was founded in 2015, it earned nearly $20 million in prize money.

Analytics platform Newzoo predicts that the global esports audience will grow to 578 million people over the next three years, while the industrys revenue might grow from $957 million in 2019 to $1.6 billion by 2024.

The future of esports in Ukraine looks promising too. In 2020, the country recognized the video game competitions as an official sport and their players as athletes, which wasnt the case before.

Local esports experts told the Kyiv Post that Ukraine can become a European Mecca for esports: it has high-speed internet with affordable prices and professional esports teams like NaVi, which are recognized around the globe.

The Kyiv Posts technology coverage is sponsored byCiklum, ELEKS, Intellias, Intetics, Itera, Parimatch Tech, SimCorp, SoftServe and TECHIIA. The content is independent of the donors.

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A view of the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine. Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A buried WWI bomb exploded after a newlywed couple started a bonfire nearby, the Daily Mail reported.

The bride suffered serious injuries, and her brother and another person died, the report said.

The bomb is thought to be from a 1916 offensive waged by Russia against Austria-Hungary, per the Mail.

A honeymoon party accidentally triggered a buried World War I bomb at a campsite in Ukraine, seriously injuring the bride and killing two others, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.

It took place last month at the Carpathian Mountains where Norbert Varga and Lidiia Makarchuk were celebrating their marriage with their friends and family, the report said.

The couple and ten others, including two children, were gathered around a bonfire telling stories and drinking tea when the bomb detonated, the Mail and a GoFundMe page for the couple said.

"They started a fire to keep warm, in a place where many other campers had started a fire previously," the GoFundMe page said. "Suddenly, there was an explosion that came from the ground underneath the fire."

It was initially unclear where the explosion came from, the GoFundMe page said, adding that it was later confirmed that "the explosion was indeed caused by an undetonated WWI bomb."

The bomb is thought to be from the time of the Brusilov Offensive in 1916, a campaign waged by Russia against Austria-Hungary, the Mail reported.

The newlywed woman suffered major burns to her face, hands, and legs, while her brother Myroslav and another man at the party died from their injuries after it took emergency service 90 minutes to arrive, the Mail reported.

Makarchuk told the Mail that she was just telling her party the story of how she met her husband at church in 2019 when the bomb went off.

"In one second I felt like someone had taken a rock and thrown it in my face, in my nose especially," Makarchuk told the Mail. "Then I had a whistling in my ears followed by a silence where I could hear only myself. I turned away and covered my face with my hands and started praying for myself."

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"Then I realized it wasn't just me. Everyone was moaning, everyone was in pain," she said.

Makarchuk also said she could hear her brother's gasps for air, and that she regrets not telling him that she loved him.

Varga, who is a keen photographer, was not at the campfire at the time of the explosion because he had gone to his tent to grab his camera, the Mail reported.

"While I was packing my equipment the sound of an explosion and screams broke the silence. I ran to the bonfire as fast as I could, screaming Lidiia's name," he said, according to the Mail.

"War movies are the closest thing to what I experienced that night, I will never forget it."

Makarchuk is still receiving treatment for her injuries, the Mail reported.

More than 26,000 ($35,000) has been raised for the couple so far, according to the GoFundMe page.

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A honeymoon party accidentally triggered a buried WWI bomb in Ukraine, injuring the bride and killing her brother - Yahoo News