The United States is preparing to announce another $275 million in military aid for Ukraine, including much-needed artillery and ammunition as Ukrainian forces struggle to stop the slow advance of Russian forces in the country’s east.
The Pentagon will formally announce the package on Friday, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The aid includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) munitions, artillery rounds and anti-tank mines, among other items.
This new package will be authorized under Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows President Joe Biden to transfer articles from U.S. stocks without specific congressional approval during an emergency, according to Reuters.
This will be the fourth installment of military aid since Congress approved a bipartisan deal to provide $60.8 billion in aid for Ukraine, including $8 billion worth of presidential drawdown authority items.
Most of this aid takes months to announce and deliver. Nearly $1.7 billion in aid has been announced since last month’s approval in Congress, which followed months of opposition from Republican lawmakers, or nearly $51 billion since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The situation in eastern Ukraine has become increasingly dire with ongoing ammunition shortages and increasingly fierce attacks, enabling Russian forces to capture a number of towns in recent weeks. Heavy fighting has occurred along multiple fronts.
On Thursday, a barrage of Russian missiles hit the eastern city of Kharkiv, killing at least seven people and injuring 28 others. All of the casualties were civilians, including five women, who were working at a printing house which was left in ruin.
“Many Ukrainian publishers had their books printed there. And this is the target that Russian terrorists chose,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address. “They want to burn and destroy all aspects of life.”
File photo: Projectiles at Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania (Credit: Dori Whipple)
