US provides Ukraine with war crimes collection assistance
The U.S. provided a new aid package consisting of equipment to help Ukraine investigate Russian war crimes, the Interior Ministry reported on Feb. 16.
Amid an ongoing impasse on $60 billion in funding for Ukraine in Congress, the U.S. has managed to find ways to keep sending smaller deliveries of aid. Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder hinted earlier in February that air defense missiles and other capabilities were still being sent to Ukraine.
The new package contained 66 vehicles, 250 drones, nine 3D laser ground scanning devices, and a DNA laboratory, the Interior Ministry said.
The equipment will help Ukraine document evidence of Russian war crimes quickly and in a high-quality manner, said Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
"We provide this assistance so that your units can gather evidence as safely as possible and prove to the world the terrible crimes committed by the Russian army on the territory of Ukraine," said Bridget Brink, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, who was at the handover ceremony.
"My respect to those who do this critical work," Brink added on Twitter.
Klymenko said that over the course of almost two years of full-scale war, the U.S. has provided more than $287 million in equipment to assist with investigating and documenting Russian war crimes.
Martin Fornusek
