The White House has approved another military assistance package for Kyiv worth $800 million as Ukraine braces for another large-scale Russian offensive, this time in the eastern parts of the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the additional material in a readout on April 13, following a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Since Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin ordered a renewed invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the White House has authorized $2.6 billion in military assistance to the war-torn country.
Biden said the recent distribution of “weapons, ammunition and other security assistance” was to allow Ukraine to defend itself “as Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region” consisting of the two easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Some of the new weapons are “tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine,” he added.
After Ukraine routed Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv and surrounding northern regions, Moscow retreated and is now regrouping for a large offensive in the east near Kharkiv, the nation’s second largest city and in the government-controlled parts of the Donbas.
Ukrainian, British and U.S. intelligence say that Russia plans to start the next stage of the invasion in the coming days or weeks. Russia has also transferred command of the invasion to the commander of the country’s southern military district, which borders the Donbas.
“I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters,” Biden said referring to 11 Mi-17 helicopters that were meant for Afghanistan before the U.S. military withdrew from the country.
Zelensky has asked the West for heavier weapons and the latest U.S. package contains 18 155-millimeter Howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds. Also in the package are 300 so-called suicide Switchblade drones, which have anti-armor warheads.
The latest Russian invasion, in its second month, is part of a war that Putin has waged against since ordering the forcible seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and occupation of certain parts of the Donbas in 2014.
An itemized list of what materiel Ukraine will receive from the latest U.S. military assistance package worth $800 million. (Public Domain)
