The Department of Defense (DoD) announced on Friday that an aid package including howitzers, drones, armored vehicles, missiles, artillery shells and ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) will soon be sent to Ukraine. The new aid was the nineteenth package sent to Ukraine using presidential authority since August 2021, with President Joe Biden’s administration having sent a total of $10.6 billion in military aid to the war-torn country since January of 2021. “President Biden has been clear that we will continue to support the people of Ukraine in defending their country against Russian aggression for as long as it takes,” said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. “The United States stands with our Allies and partners from more than 50 countries in providing vital security assistance in support of Ukraine’s defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “The United States will continue to provide additional systems and capabilities for 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 approved on Friday includes 15 ScanEagle surveillance drones, which the US has not previously sent to Ukraine, although another unnamed country has, according to a Reuters report citing an unnamed senior US defense official. Ukrainian troops are pictured preparing to fire a US-made M777 Howitzer on the front line in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on August 1, 2022. The US Department of Defense announced a new $775 million military aid package to Ukraine on Friday. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty The Ministry of Defense announced that the new aid also includes the following items:
40 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles with Mine Rollers 16 105mm shells and 36,000 105mm artillery rounds 50 armored multipurpose high mobility wheeled vehicles 1,500 tube-launched, optically tracked, cable-guided (TOW) missiles 1,000 Javelin anti-chest systems Extra HIMARS ammunition 2,000 anti-armor rounds Mine clearance equipment and systems Demolition ammunition Regular secure communications systems Night vision devices, thermal imaging systems, optics and laser rangefinders.
The package was announced shortly after the comprehensive Ukraine Support Tracker reported that international pledges for aid to Ukraine “solidified in July”. It also came less than two weeks after the Defense Department announced a massive $1 billion military aid package to Ukraine on August 8. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Biden for authorizing the package in a tweet on Friday. “I value another very much [U.S.] $775 million military aid package,” Zelensky tweeted. “Thank you @POTUS for this decision! We have taken another important step to defeat the attacker. [Ukraine] he will be free!” I especially appreciate another 🇺🇸 military aid package of $775 million. Thank you @POTUS for this decision! We have taken another important step to defeat the attacker. 🇺🇦 will be free! — Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) August 19, 2022 Last month, advanced missiles supplied by Western countries were used by Ukraine to strike behind Russian lines, according to Reuters. Ukraine has also warned that Russian-held Crimea, where a series of explosions have damaged military bases since last week, is no longer safe from attack. Russia has repeatedly accused the US of supplying Ukraine with weapons, while threatening to widen the scope of the war and accusing the US of being “directly involved” by sending aid. “Washington’s degree of influence in Kyiv exceeds all possible limits,” Alexander Dartsev, director of the North American department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with the Russian state 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 part of the conflict,” he added. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government for comment.
