The Biden administration announced Tuesday it is sending up to $400 million in additional military aid to Ukraine, taking the total U.S. contribution since the conflict began last year past $43 billion.
AP reports a variety of munitions for advanced air defense systems and a number of small, surveillance Hornet drones, were included in the Pentagon aid package, as attacks in the war escalated to include strikes in Moscow and Crimea. The news outlet set out the contributions in detail:
The package includes an array of ammunition — ranging from missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) to Stingers and Javelins. The weapons are being provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to quickly take items from its own stocks and deliver them to Ukraine, often within days.
The U.S. is also sending howitzer artillery rounds and 32 Stryker armored vehicles, along with demolition equipment, mortars, Hydra-70 rockets and 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The Hornets are tiny nano-drones that are used largely for intelligence gathering. Ukraine has also gotten them in the past from other Western allies.
Overall the White House has approved more than $43 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, according to AP’s estimates, even as critics sharpen their attacks at home and abroad on the seemingly endless flow of U.S. taxpayer-funded contributions.
The latest package of weapons comes as a Ukrainian drone reportedly struck an ammunition depot in Russian-annexed Crimea and Russia accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on Moscow.
Russian media reported one of the drones fell near the city center, not far from the towering Defense Ministry building.
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