Despite some afternoon rain, crowds thronged the Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights Thursday for the opening day of the 2024 Minnesota State Fair. The Fair runs through Labor Day.

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR and MATTHEW LEE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will send about $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Thursday, even as Washington works to get a better understanding of Kyiv’s incursion into Russia and how it advances the broader battlefield goals more than two years into the war.

U.S. officials said the latest package of aid includes air defense missiles, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelins and an array of other anti-armor missiles, counter-drone and counter-electronic warfare systems and equipment, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, vehicles and other equipment.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid has not been publicly announced. The formal announcement could come as soon as Friday, which is the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day.

The weapons are being provided through presidential drawdown authority, which means they are taken from Pentagon stockpiles and can be delivered more quickly.

The aid comes as Ukrainian forces continue to broaden their surprise offensive into Russia, where officials say they have taken about 100 square kilometers (62 square miles) of territory around Kursk. Russian troops, meanwhile, are making gains in the east, around the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub.

Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that the U.S. has been talking with Ukrainian leaders to get a better assessment of their longer-term goals for the Kursk operation, particularly as they see Russia advancing near Pokrovsk.

If Pokrovsk falls, the defeat would imperil Ukraine’s defenses and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the Donetsk region. Russian soldiers are now just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.

Asked about the Kursk operation, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Thursday that “we are still working with Ukraine on how that fits into their strategic objectives on the battlefield itself.”

The U.S., she said, understands that Ukraine wants to build a buffer zone along the border, but the administration still has more questions about how it furthers Ukraine’s broader war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his first visit Thursday to the border area where his forces launched the offensive on Aug. 6. He said Kyiv’s military had taken control of another Russian village and captured more prisoners of war.

The latest package of aid brings the total amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to more than $55.7 billion since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

As Christian Vázquez made his way into the visitor’s clubhouse last Thursday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, bat in hand, a seven-person Puerto Rican band played jubilant music.

The live band was just one part of an elaborate surprise for Vázquez, arranged by his wife Gaby, to honor the veteran for his 10 years of major league service time, a milestone that less than 10 percent of players in Major League Baseball history have reached. Vázquez and his teammates quickly got in the groove, dancing to the music as they toasted his accomplishment.

There’s a lot to celebrate right now in Christian Vázquez’s world. He had a birthday on Wednesday, turning 34, he and Gaby are set to welcome their third child to this world next month, and he’s completely turned his season around at the plate after a difficult first few months to begin the year.

“Whatever he’s doing, he looks great,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “And we’ll take it. He’s helping us score runs. Coming from where he is in the lineup, that’s huge. And, he’s never wavered defensively at any point.”

While he always has been an asset behind the plate, Vázquez’s offensive start to the season couldn’t have been much worse. Through the first three months of the season, he was hitting .181 with a .207 on-base percentage and .252 slugging percentage. He had just seven extra-base hits through the end of June.

Behind the scenes, he was putting in plenty of work — assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon referred to him as a “known tinkerer” — searching for results that didn’t come for quite some time.

“(There was) definitely for sure frustration, for sure frustration. Pissed off at me, and I’m pissed off at him and we’re getting into it, and that’s what happens with adult males in a high-stress industry,” Shomon said. “In Major League Baseball, you’ve got to perform, and so he was definitely frustrated because he knew he could perform better. He knew he was better than what he was showing.”

Finally, at long last, the duo found something that worked. They made a tweak with his upper body and they also simplified his cage routine. Where his routine used to be upwards of near a half an hour, now it might be under 10 minutes.

“It (is) in and out in a couple swings and I feel the feeling that I’m feeling right now. and that’s it,” Vázquez said.

Once they simplified things, Shomon said, things started to click. It translated into game performance, where the catcher started to turn his season around in early July.

He knew it was working when he started to see the results.

“The first week of July, I was consistent every game,” Vázquez said.

Since that point, Vázquez is hitting .338 with a .365 on-base percentage and .575 slugging percentage. He has five home runs among his 27 hits in those 26 games.

One of those hits was a pinch-hit, two-run single that lifted the Twins to an eighth-inning lead on Tuesday night after they had surrendered their advantage a half inning earlier. It was a huge moment for him, though the Twins eventually lost the game to the San Diego Padres.

It’s rewarding for Vázquez, of course, but also for Shomon, who put in so many hours with him in the cage trying to help him turn things around.

“We, as coaches, I think at times feel their struggle more than they do and want it so bad for them, especially when you see things trending in the right direction in all areas leading up until game time,” Shomon said. “You’re just hoping and wanting it to carry over, especially when you’re making an adjustment. … (I’m) elated, right, and more so just happy with how consistent he has been.”

It’s been nearly two months of consistency now for the veteran catcher, who has moved past the frustration of the early season into the celebratory days of August.

“It was hard,” Vázquez said. “It was hard obviously because I was trying to help the team on both sides and it was not working, but now it feels good.”

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