The US on Friday announced a new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine, which for the first time will include portable armored bridges that will allow Kyiv’s forces to cross rivers to attack the enemy.
The move comes as Ukraine prepares to launch a spring counteroffensive to try to liberate the territories that have been seized by Russia since the start of the invasion more than a year ago.
“This military assistance package includes more ammunition for US-provided HIMARS and Howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself, as well as ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training, and support,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in announcing the aid.
This round of aid will be taken from existing US weapons stockpiles not requiring congressional approval, so that it can reach Ukraine faster.
Speaking on the first anniversary of the war last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US military to speed up the supply of weapons to hasten the end of the war.
The Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge is a portable, 60-foot folding metal bridge that is carried on top of a tank. Providing that system now could make it easier for Ukrainian troops to go across narrow rivers or trenches to get to Russian forces, instead of firing at them from a distance.
Besides the bridges, the package also includes thousands of rounds of ammunition, such as rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 155mm Howitzer rounds, along with spare parts and tools for repair, demolition munitions and equipment for clearing obstacles.
The US is also tripling the number of Ukrainian soldiers it is training on advanced battle tactics at a base in Germany, to help them punch through entrenched Russian lines.
Kyiv’s troops go through a five-week course at the Grafenwoehr base that prepares them to carry out advanced combined arms maneuvers with Bradley fighting vehicles, M109 Paladins and Stryker armored personnel carriers.
The first 600 Ukrainian troops completed the course last month and 1,600 more are in training.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, dismissed the military aid being provided by the US to Ukraine in its bid to defeat Moscow’s forces.
“All foreign weapons that fall into Ukrainian hands on the battlefield will be ground up and destroyed,” the Russian state news agency TASS quoted Antonov as saying.
The new aid was announced a day after Blinken briefly met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a summit in India for the first time since the outbreak of the war.
Blinken informed Russia’s top diplomat that the US would continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the US has sent more than $32 billion in weapons to Kyiv.
With Post wires
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