WASHINGTON-
The United States will send another $400 million worth of military equipment to Ukraine, including four more advanced rocket systems, a senior defense official said Friday, in an effort to bolster Ukraine’s efforts to strike deeper behind Russian front lines. in the eastern region of Donbass.
The aid comes as Moscow this week claimed full control of Ukraine’s Lugansk province in the Donbas, but Ukrainian authorities say its troops still control a small part of the province and fierce fighting continues in several villages.
The defense official said that the eight High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, that were fielded earlier are still being used by Ukrainian forces in the fight. This will give them four more to help attack Russian command and control nodes, logistics capabilities, and other systems further back from the front lines. A senior military official said that at least 100 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the HIMARs. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public.
In recent days, Russia has launched dozens of missiles across Ukraine and pinned down Ukrainian forces with continuous long-range fire for a few hours at a time. The US military official said that 10 to 15 Russian battalion tactical groups are in the Donbas region, but that Russia has suffered significant losses in recent fighting and may have to pause to reorganize and reestablish equipment. There are between 800 and 1,000 soldiers in a battalion tactical group.
Ukraine’s leaders have publicly called on Western allies to quickly send more munitions and advanced systems to help bridge the gap in equipment and manpower. Precision weapons can help Ukraine attack Russian weapons that are further away and are used to bombard Ukrainian sites.
The latest aid is the 15th package of weapons and military equipment transferred to Ukraine from Department of Defense stocks since last August. In addition to HIMARS, the US will also send 1,000 155-millimeter artillery shells, which have higher precision capabilities that will also help Ukraine hit specific targets. The package will also include three tactical vehicles, counter-battery radar systems, spare parts and other equipment.
Looking ahead to the coming months, the official said a key goal is to build Ukraine’s logistics and repair capabilities so troops can maintain their weapons systems and continue the fight well into the future.
Overall, the US has sent about $7.3 billion in aid to Ukraine since the war began in late February.
Lugansk is one of two provinces that make up Donbas, a region of mines and factories where pro-Moscow separatists fought Ukraine’s army for eight years and declared independent republics that Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized before sending troops to Ukraine.
Putin warned on Thursday that Kyiv should accept Moscow’s terms or prepare for the worst, saying Russia had not yet “started anything serious.”
US and other Western officials have said Russia has been making slow and incremental progress in Donbas, but has not made progress as fast as Moscow initially intended. President Joe Biden has said that the United States is providing the Ukrainians with the help they need to continue resisting Russian aggression.
“I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it’s not going to end with a Russian defeat of Ukraine in Ukraine,” Biden said last week.
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