The US is sending $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and MATTHEW LEE The Associated Press

Ukrainian servicemen of 148th separate artillery brigade of the Air Assault Forces fire towards Russian positions by a M777 howitzer at the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, August 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Evgeniy Maloletka]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is sending about $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine, the Defense Department said Friday, even as Washington works to get a better understanding of Kyiv’s incursion into Russia and how it advances the broader battlefield goals more than two years into the war.

The latest package of aid includes air defense missiles, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelins and an array of other anti-armor missiles, counter-drone and counter-electronic warfare systems and equipment, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, vehicles and other equipment.

The formal announcement came on Friday, which is the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day.

The weapons are being provided through presidential drawdown authority, which means they are taken from Pentagon stockpiles and can be delivered more quickly.

The aid comes as Ukrainian forces continue to broaden their surprise offensive into Russia, where officials say they have taken about 100 square kilometers (62 square miles) of territory in the Kursk region. Russian troops, meanwhile, are making gains in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, around the city of Pokrovsk, a critical logistics hub.

Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that the U.S. has been talking with Ukrainian leaders to get a better assessment of their longer-term goals for the Kursk operation, particularly as they see Russia advancing near Pokrovsk.

If Pokrovsk falls, the defeat would imperil Ukraine’s defenses and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the Donetsk region. Russian soldiers are now just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.

Asked about the Kursk operation, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Thursday that “we are still working with Ukraine on how that fits into their strategic objectives on the battlefield itself.”

The U.S., she said, understands that Ukraine wants to build a buffer zone along the border, but the administration still has more questions about how it furthers Ukraine’s broader war effort.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his first visit Thursday to the border area where his forces launched the offensive on Aug. 6. He said Kyiv’s military had taken control of another Russian village and captured more prisoners of war.

The latest package of aid brings the total amount of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to more than $55.7 billion since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.