Last Updated on November 25, 2022
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced that Ukraine would be receiving additional $400 million in both combat and humanitarian aid. The latest aid package is the 26th approved by President Biden since the summer of 2021. The last package, which was also valued at $400 million, was announced on November 10. In terms of dollar amount, Ukraine has received over $19 billion in aid from the U.S. since the wider conflict began this past February.
Included in the new aid package will be 150 heavy machine guns equipped with specialized thermal sights designed to combat drones. Russia has launched numerous attacks on Iranian-made self-detonating “Kamikaze” drones in recent weeks and months.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces will also receive additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); 200 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds; 10,000 120mm mortar rounds and more than 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The equipment will be drawn from the Defense Department’s weapons stock, according to the New York Post.
In addition to weapons and ammunition, Ukraine will receive 150 Humvees, 100 light tactical vehicles/armored personnel carriers, and spare parts for 105mm howitzers that have already been donated.
The latest aid package also includes 200 generators as Ukraine prepares for a difficult winter. Russia has increasingly targeted key Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the nation’s largest cities.
Russian strikes have knocked out nearly half of the nation’s energy infrastructure, according to a top World Health Organization (WHO) official. “This winter will be life-threatening for millions of people in Ukraine,” Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said at a press conference in Kiev on Monday. “The devastating energy crisis, the deepening mental health emergency, constraints on humanitarian access, and the risk of viral infections will make this winter a formidable test for the [Ukrainian] health system.”