Ukraine should receive an additional 775 million dollars in US Army aid to bolster its ongoing war against Russia.
The Department of Defense (DoD) announced on Friday that an aid package including Howitzersdrones, armored vehicles, missiles, artillery shells and ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) would soon be sent to Ukraine.
The new aid was the nineteenth package sent to Ukraine using presidential withdrawal authority since August 2021, with the president Joe BidenNigeria’s administration has sent a total of $10.6 billion in military aid to the war-torn country since January 2021.
“President Biden has made it clear that we will continue to support the people of Ukraine in defending their country against Russian aggression for as long as it takes,” the secretary of state said. Anthony Blink said in a statement. “The United States stands with our allies and partners from more than 50 countries to provide vital security assistance to support Ukraine’s defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The United States will continue to provide additional systems and capabilities to Ukraine,” he added. “These capabilities are carefully calibrated to make the biggest difference on the battlefield and strengthen Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table.”
The package cleared on Friday includes 15 ScanEagle surveillance drones, which the United States has not yet sent to Ukraine, although another unnamed country has, according to a Reuters report citing a senior US defense official anonymous.
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The DoD announced that the new assistance also includes the following:
- 40 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles with Mine Rollers
- 16 105mm howitzers and 36,000 105mm artillery shells
- 50 high mobility multipurpose wheeled armored vehicles
- 1,500 tube, optical tracking and wire-guided (TOW) missiles
- 1,000 Javelin anti-armour systems
- Additional HIMARS ammo
- 2,000 anti-armour shells
- Demining equipment and systems
- Demolition ammunition
- Tactical secure communication systems
- Night vision devices, thermal imaging systems, optics and laser range finders.
The package was announced just after Ukraine Support Tracker reported that international pledges to provide aid to Ukraine had “dried up in July.” He also came less than two weeks after the DoD announcement massive $1 billion military aid to Ukraine on August 8.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Biden for authorizing the package in a Tweeter Friday.
“I greatly appreciate another [U.S.] $775 million military aid package,” Zelensky tweeted. “Thank you @POTUS for this decision! We have taken another important step to defeat the aggressor. [Ukraine] will be free!”
I highly appreciate another military aid package 🇺🇸 in the amount of $775 million. Thanks @POTUS for this decision! We have taken another important step to defeat the aggressor. 🇺🇦 will be free!
— Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) August 19, 2022
Over the past month, advanced rockets supplied by Western countries have been used by Ukraine to strike behind Russian lines, according to Reuters. Ukraine has also warned that Russian-occupied Crimea, where a series of explosions have caused damage to military bases since last week, is no longer safe from attack.
Russia has repeatedly denounced the United States for supplying arms to Ukraine, while threatening to expand the scope of the war and accusing the United States of being “directly involved” in sending aid.
“Washington’s degree of influence over Kyiv crosses all imaginable boundaries,” Alexander Darchiev, director of the North America department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with Russian news agency TASS last week. .
“In addition to large-scale military and financial aid and moral support for the Zelensky regime, the Americans are increasingly becoming a direct party to the conflict,” he added.
Newsweek contacted the Russian government for comment.