World News | US Sending USD 500 Million in Weapons, Military Aid to Ukraine
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it is sending up to USD 500 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more than 50 heavily armoured vehicles and an infusion of missiles for air defence systems, as Ukrainian and Western leaders try to sort out the impact of the brief weekend insurrection in Russia.
Washington, Jun 27 (AP) The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it is sending up to USD 500 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more than 50 heavily armoured vehicles and an infusion of missiles for air defence systems, as Ukrainian and Western leaders try to sort out the impact of the brief weekend insurrection in Russia.
The aid is aimed at bolstering Ukraine's counteroffensive, which has been moving slowly in its early stages.
It's the 41st time since the Russian invasion into Ukraine in February 2022 that the US has provided military weapons and equipment through presidential drawdown authority. The programme allows the Pentagon to quickly take items from its own stocks and deliver them to Ukraine.
Because the aid packages are generally planned in advance and recently included many of the same critical weapons for the battlefront, the contents weren't likely chosen based on the weekend rebellion by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner mercenary group that he has control. It isn't clear if Ukrainian forces will be able to take advantage of the disarray in the Russian ranks, in the aftermath of the short-lived revolt.
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But, the missiles and heavy vehicles can be used as Ukraine tries to capitalize on what has been a growing feud between the Wagner Group leader and Russia's military brass, with simmering questions about how many of Prigozhin's forces may leave the fight.
The mercenaries left Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city and moved hundreds of miles toward Moscow before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday.
The Pentagon in a statement said the US will send 30 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 25 of the armoured Stryker vehicles to Ukraine, along with missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the Patriot air defence systems.
The package includes Javelin and high-speed anti-radiation (HARM) missiles, demolition munitions, obstacle-clearing equipment and a wide range of artillery rounds and other ammunition.
White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton said the new package “includes key capabilities that will support Ukraine's counter-offensive operations” and would strengthen Ukraine's air defences.
According to the Pentagon, the US has delivered more than USD 15 billion in weapons and equipment from its stocks to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, and has committed an additional USD 6.2 billion in supplies that haven't yet been identified. The more than USD 6 billion extra is the result of an accounting error, because the military services overestimated the value of the weapons they pulled off the shelves and sent to Ukraine over the past year.
More broadly, the US has also promised to send more than USD 16.7 billion in longer-term funding for various weapons, training and other equipment through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, and an additional roughly USD 2 billion in foreign military financing.
The US has at least USD 1.2 billion in drawdown authority that hasn't yet been committed but will expire at the end of this fiscal year on September 30. The remaining USD 1.9 billion in USAI funds does not expire until the end of the next fiscal year, in September 2024. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)