The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, to help push back Russian progress in the war, officials announced Thursday.
The latest package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which will now double their number. The first four HIMARS that America had sent earlier have already gone to Ukraine and are in the hands of soldiers there.
According to the Pentagon, the aid also included 18 tactical vehicles used to tow howitzers so weapons could be moved around the battlefield, as well as 18 coastal and riverside patrol boats. , thousands of machine guns, grenade launchers and rounds of ammunition, and some other equipment and spare parts.
The new aid comes just a week after the US announced it would send $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, and The Russian army is gradually expanding its control in the Eastern Donbass region. Ukraine’s leaders have consistently called for more advanced, accurate rocket systems to better fight Russia.
Russian forces captured two villages in eastern Ukraine on Thursday and are fighting for control of a major highway in an operation to cut supply lines and encircle Ukrainian forces, according to British and Ukrainian military officials.
Russian forces have been bombarding the city of Svyarodonetsk for several weeks with artillery and airstrikes, and have fought house-to-house fighting with Ukrainian forces. HIMARS gives Ukraine the ability to attack Russian forces and weapons from afar, making it less risky for Ukrainian troops. The systems are mounted on trucks, which carry a container with six precision-guided rockets that can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers).
It took about three weeks to train Ukrainian troops on the first four HIMARS, before the system was taken into battle.
The aid is part of $40 billion in security and funding Passed by Congress last month and signed into law by President Joe Biden. And it is the 13th package of military weapons and equipment committed to Ukraine since the start of the war.
Overall, since the war began in late February, the US has committed about $6.1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including this latest package. The $450 million in equipment and weapons will be from the drawdown authority, meaning the Defense Department will take it from its stock and ship it to Ukraine.