US announces new $400 million Ukraine security aid package

Updated: Mar 3, 2023 / 05:56 PM CST

FILE – Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire at Russian positions from a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, July 14, 2022. Supplies of Western weapons, including U.S. HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, has significantly boosted the Ukrainian military’s capability, allowing it to target Russian munitions deports, bridges and other key facilities with precision and impunity. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)

The U.S. on Friday announced a $400 million security aid package for Ukraine, providing more ammunition, equipment and munitions for Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

The State Department said the latest package includes munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and howitzer artillery guns, as well as ammunition for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles the U.S. first announced for Ukraine in January.

The latest round of security aid also includes demolitions munitions, equipment and other material, as well as services for maintenance, training and support of Ukrainian troops, who have been fighting against a Russian invasion for more than a year.

The package also includes armored vehicle-launched bridges, which accompany armored columns and allow vehicles to cross rivers, streams, ditches and trenches, according to the Defense Department. The bridges are carried on the chassis of armored vehicles before they are launched at river or stream banks. They can also be quickly folded up on the other side of the crossing.

“Russia alone could end its war today,” the State Department said in a release. “Until Russia does so, for as long as it takes, we will stand united with Ukraine and strengthen its military on the battlefield so that Ukraine will be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.”

The U.S. has provided at least $25 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Biden administration.

Congress approved about $113 billion in total emergency assistance for Ukraine last year and the last round of aid from December has not yet been exhausted.

Notably, the latest round of security aid to Ukraine does not include F-16 fighter jets, which Kyiv has long asked for, or another sought-after advanced weapon, ATACMS long-range missile systems.

The Biden administration has been under some pressure to send both over to Ukraine, which is preparing for a counteroffensive in the coming months.

Ukrainian defenders are currently holding off an onslaught of Russian soldiers and mercenary fighters around the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.

Moscow has encircled the town in three directions and Ukraine has signaled a potential retreat from the embattled front.

Updated 4:25 p.m.