BY CAITLIN YILEK
The U.S. is sending another round of aid to Ukraine that includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) as part of a package worth $275 million, the State Department confirmed Friday.
The latest aid means the U.S. has provided approximately $17.9 billion in support to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February, a State Department spokesperson said. The latest package is also expected to include 500 precision-guided 155mm rounds; 2,000 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems; 125 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs); more than 1,300 anti-armor systems; small arms and more than 2.7 million rounds of small arms ammunition; and four satellite communications antennas.
“The United States will continue to stand with more than 50 allies and partners in support of the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence with extraordinary courage and boundless determination,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The U.S. gave Ukraine another four HIMARS earlier this month as part of a $625 million arms deal. Along with armored vehicles, ammunition, and artillery systems, this package.
20 HIMARS have already been removed by the US from its own stocks for Ukraine. Ukraine can target Russian command centers, ammunition hubs, and support areas away from the frontlines thanks to its sophisticated rocket systems and munitions.
The expected announcement comes as Ukraine and its allies, including the U.S., warned Russia against using a “dirty bomb” — a device that uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material — in Ukraine. Russia’s defense minister had claimed in a series of calls with defense officials from other countries that it was Ukraine that was preparing to detonate such a device in its own territory, an accusation that the U.S. and several allies called “transparently false.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday also claimed, after months of rising tensions, that he had no intention of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, according to The Associated Press.
“We see no need for that,” Putin said, according to AP. “There is no point in that, neither political, nor military.”
Russia recently unleashed a wave of attacks using Iranian-made self-detonating drones around Kyiv and other regions.
The Biden administration has promised 18 more HIMARS through a contracting process that will take “a few years” to deliver to Ukraine, a senior defense official said last month.
Margaret Brennan and Eleanor Watson contributed reporting.
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