The Pentagon announced another $400 million weapons package for Ukraine on Thursday as Russia ramps up attacks on critical infrastructure with winter getting closer.
The new aid includes four Avenger air defense systems, missiles for HAWK air defense systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, artillery rounds, and hundreds of grenade launchers.
It comes one week after the Pentagon announced a separate $400 million package, bringing the total aid that the Biden administration has sent to Ukraine to over $19 billion.
FILE PHOTO: A Ukrainian service member learns to use a M141 Bunker Defeat Munition weapon supplied by the United States at a training ground in the Lviv region, Ukraine.
(Ukrainian Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
“When I was in Kyiv last week, I had the chance to consult directly with President Zelenskyy and his team on the ground about what Ukraine needs to be in the strongest position possible on the battlefield,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press conference on Thursday.
“This increased air defense will be critical for Ukraine as Russia continues to use cruise missiles and Iranian drones to attack critical civilian infrastructure.”
IRANIAN TROOPS IN CRIMEA TRAINING RUSSIANS ON DRONE STRIKES AGAINST UKRAINE, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. for the latest weapons package on Thursday.
“Together we’re building an air shield to protect [Ukrainian] civilians,” Zelenskyy tweeted. “We’re bringing victory over the aggressor closer!”
A pallet of fuses for 155 mm shells, ultimately bound for Ukraine, is spun as it’s loaded on to a C-17 cargo aircraft, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Fileto/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE PHOTO: Military aid, delivered as part of the United States’ security assistance to Ukraine, is unloaded from a plane at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine.
(REUTERS/Serhiy Takhmazov/File Photo)
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The announcement also comes as some states continue tabulating votes from Tuesday’s midterm elections, with Republicans likely closing in on a House majority.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who announced this week that he’ll run for Speaker of the House, told Punchbowl News last month that Republicans wouldn’t “write a blank check for Ukraine” if the GOP controls the lower chamber.
