US to send Ukraine another $300M in weapons ahead of spring offensive
Ukrainian soldiers prepare their ammunition at the frontline positions near Vuhledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, May 1, 2023.
The Biden administration will send Ukraine another $300 million in lethal aid, including significant amounts of artillery and mortar rounds, ahead of an expected spring counteroffensive against Russia, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
In a press release, the Defense Department said the package includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), additional howitzers, rounds of ammunition and anti-armor capabilities “that Ukraine is using to push back against Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression.”
The arsenal also includes Hydra-70 rockets, projectiles fired from aircraft, Carl Gustaf anti-armor rifles and TOW missiles, all to be pulled from Pentagon stocks.
The U.S. announcement comes less than a week after Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that “preparations are being finalized” for the coming offensive and that they were “mostly ready.”
On Monday, he followed up by saying the operation’s success would be based on “the availability of weapons; prepared, trained people; our defenders and defenders who know their plan at their level, as well as providing this offensive with all the necessary things — shells, ammunition, fuel, protection, etc.,” according to The Associated Press.
Wednesday’s announcement marks a total of $36 billion in military aid from the U.S. to Ukraine since Russia first attacked in February 2022.
It is also the 37th Presidential Drawdown package of weapons and equipment, a designation for aid pulled from existing Pentagon stocks.