AP: US to send Ukraine up to $400 million in additional military aid

The U.S. is planning to send up to $400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, the Associated Press reported, citing U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The package will include ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), Stinger surface-to-air missiles, and Javelin anti-tank missiles.

The U.S. will also send howitzer artillery rounds, demolition equipment, 32 Stryker armored vehicles, and Hornet drones, which are used for surveillance and gathering intelligence. The package includes the delivery of 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition to Ukraine.

The Biden Administration is providing the weaponry through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the U.S. to take items from its own stockpile.

On July 19, the U.S. Defense Department announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $1.3 billion. This came from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), under which Washington purchases equipment from the arms industry or U.S. partners to send to Ukraine, rather than pull from the country's own existing stocks.

The package was announced the day after a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein Group, on July 18.

The meeting was attended by Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov and hosted by the U.S. Department of Defense.

According to AP, the U.S. government has provided more than $41 billion in military aid to Ukraine since February 24, 2022.

Defense minister: Attacks on Russian military targets in Crimea to continue

In a recent interview with CNN, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that Ukraine will continue to attack targets in Russian-occupied Crimea to reduce Russia’s fighting capacity and “help save the lives of Ukrainians.”

The Kyiv IndependentElsa Court