Skip to content
Edit post

Politico: US may announce new military aid package for Ukraine this week

by Kateryna Denisova and The Kyiv Independent news desk May 21, 2024 9:31 AM 2 min read
A U.S.-supplied and manufactured M142 HIMARS used by the Ukrainian military launches a rocket. (Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

The U.S. may announce a new military aid package for Ukraine later this week, Politico reported on May 20, citing two unnamed American officials.

Neither the value of the aid package nor the weapons it could include were disclosed.

After six months of delays, the U.S. Congress approved a $61 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine in April.

The Pentagon announced on April 26 that it was ready to move forward with sending $1 billion worth of weapons to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles. Another defense aid package for Kyiv worth $400 million was authorized on May 10.

The Pentagon said that it will likely take some time before new aid effects are felt on the battlefield.

In the meantime, Russia launched a new offensive with 30,000 troops on May 10, targeting Kharkiv Oblast, which is situated at the border with Russia in northeastern Ukraine.

Moscow's forces had managed to advance as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) in the region but had been halted by the first line of defense, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Over the winter months, Ukraine suffered a critical shortage of artillery shells, in large part due to delays in U.S. military aid. Russia has taken advantage of this, taking the city of Avdiivka in February.

"Every decision to which we, then later everyone together, comes to is late by around one year," Zelensky told Reuters on May 20, adding that Western partners have been deliberating key decisions on military aid for Ukraine for "too long."

Austin at Ramstein: US has ‘already delivered many of Ukraine’s top priority requirements’
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the ongoing defense against the Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast as a “hard and dangerous fight.”

News Feed

7:15 PM

Ukraine's artillery braces for shell shortage as US halts aid.

The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko spent a day with an artillery crew from the 28th Mechanized Brigade in the front-line city of Kostiantynivka. Following the recent decision by the Pentagon to halt shipments of certain weapons to Ukraine, a looming shell shortage is once again on the horizon for Ukrainian forces.
9:17 AM  (Updated: )

'There is also good news' — Ukrainian drones hit key military optics plant in Russia, General Staff confirms.

Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's counter-disinformation center, said a drone hit the Azov Optical and Mechanical Plant in the town of Azov, Rostov Oblast. The facility reportedly manufactures critical components for the Russian military, including sights, rangefinders, thermal imaging systems, and fire control equipment for tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, ships, and aircraft.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.