The U.S. on Wednesday announced a new $1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine as the country continues to endure brutal pounding from Russian artillery in the country’s disputed Donbas region, now the focus of Moscow’s unprovoked invasion that began in late February.
The latest tranche of firepower — the twelfth such drawdown from Department of Defense inventories since August 2021 —includes artillery rocket munitions; 18 additional M-77 howitzers and the tactical vehicles to tow them; and 36,000 rounds of 155 mm howitzer ammunition. Ukrainian officials have been openly appealing for more Western military firepower as Russian forces make slow by steady progress in the east.
“This package also includes $650 million in Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative funds that will help Ukraine defend itself with two additional harpoon coastal defense systems,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Belgium during the third meeting of U.S. and allied defense ministers dealing with the crisis in Kyiv.
“Ukraine is facing a pivotal moment on the battlefield,” Mr. Austin said. “We’re seeing what [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] warned us about: after failing to take Kyiv and after reassessing its combat aims, Russia has shifted its focus to the Donbas.”
The U.S. also will be providing Ukraine with thousands of secure radios, night-vision devices, thermal sights and other high-tech equipment, Pentagon officials said.
About 50 countries from as far away as Ecuador were on hand for Wednesday’s meeting of the Ukraine “contact group.” The rapid growth of the group is a testament to the international community’s rejection of Russia’s decision to invade its smaller neighbor, U.S. officials argued.
“It’s also a sign of the global admiration for the heroism and resilience of the Ukrainian people,” Mr. Austin said in a briefing after the meeting.
The U.S. has committed about $6.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Biden administration. About $5.6 billion has been earmarked since the invasion that began on February 24, Pentagon officials said.
Countries such as Germany, Canada, Poland, and the Netherlands are also continuing to ship Ukraine long-range fire weapons, such as howitzers or rocket systems.
“These are key investments,” Mr. Austin said. “They’ll be crucial to Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russia’s assault in the Donbas.”
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs who accompanied Mr. Austin to Europe, said Ukraine’s troops are continuing to fight “tooth and nail, every day, inch by inch, yard by yard” against Russia’s advance in the Donbas.
“They’re at war and we’ll continue to support them. The ‘rules-based international order’ is also under threat through the actions of Russia in Ukraine,” Gen. Milley said.
Ukrainian troops are a “few weeks” away from wrapping up a crash course on how to operate the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) supplied by the Pentagon.
”We and other countries are building a platoon at a time in order to certify the Ukrainians to make sure they can properly employ and maintain the system,” Gen. Milley said. “In a few weeks, the Ukrainians will have trained, long-range rocket artillery in the fight.”
U.S. and allied troops have already trained hundreds of Ukrainians to operate the M-777 towed howitzers and their new M-109 self-propelled cannons, Gen. Milley said.
While the latest campaign in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been described as an artillery battle, Gen. Milley noted that the international community has provided almost 97,000 anti-tank systems to Kyiv’s forces.
“That’s more anti-tank systems than there are tanks in the world,” Gen. Milley said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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