U.S. sending Ukraine ammo and generators
The latest defense and aid package is worth about $400 million.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is sending an additional $400 million in ammunition and generators to Ukraine, the White House announced Wednesday, and is pulling the gear from its own stockpiles to get the support to Kyiv as fast as possible as Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy sources and winter approaches.
Including the latest aid, the U.S. has committed more than $19 billion in weapons and other equipment to Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. The new package of aid will be provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to take weapons from its own stock and quickly ship them to Ukraine.
The latest package includes 200 generators, an undisclosed number of additional rounds for both the advanced NASAMS air defense systems and the HIMARS artillery systems the U.S. has shipped to Ukraine, 150 heavy machine guns with thermal sights to shoot down drones, 10,000 120-millimeter mortar rounds and 20 million rounds of small-arms ammunition, among other items, the Pentagon said.
The intense battles in Ukraine have had both sides firing thousands of rounds a day, from bullets for small arms to truck-sized cruise missiles. In a sign of how intense the ground fighting has been, the U.S. to date has provided 104 million rounds of small-arms ammunition to Ukraine.
The continued push of weapons to Kyiv, however, is raising questions about how long the U.S. and partner nations can continue to sustain the fight without harming their own military readiness. Many European nations have already said they have pushed forward all the excess they can afford to send.
The flow of weapons comes as the Biden administration seeks to pass an additional $37 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine during the postelection session of Congress, before Republicans take over control of the House in January.
Some Republican members, including House leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, have questioned the amount of money being spent on Ukraine.