The new package is expected to include armored vehicles, ammunition and other equipment.
WASHINGTON – The United States will provide up to $500 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, three federal officials told VOA. The package, which will be made public on tuesday, is expected to include 55 stryker and Bradley armored vehicles.
One official, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity before the package was released, said the aid would also include ammunition for Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and additional missiles for HIMARS artillery systems.
Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told VOA that the aid package to Ukraine would include a large number of “Bangalore torpedoes” – elongated explosive charges consisting of connected pipes designed to remove obstacles. For example, a charge can be used to create a passage about 4 meters wide through barbed wire, thick undergrowth or minefields.
The official said that a small number of “Bangalore torpedoes” proved to be “extremely useful” for Ukraine.
The chaos that erupted in Russia over the weekend does not seem to have led to changes on the battlefield.
“Wagner Group forces may have left, but the minefields and other obstacles have not,” a second official said.
Once made public, the new package will be the 41st presidentially authorized military equipment seizure from the U.S. Department of Defense stocks. since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this year, Moscow launched a new offensive in Ukraine that stalled. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently confirmed that Kiev is waging a massive counteroffensive.
Russian troops have spent several months seriously gaining a foothold in their positions in Ukraine, making it even more difficult for Kiev to counteroffensive.
“It’s harder to attack than it is to defend,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Defense Democracies Foundation’s Center for Military-Political Power.
“[Ukrainians] are confronted by entrenched Russian troops, in front of which are minefields. There is nothing more difficult in a war,” he added.
Source : golosameriki