Ammunition for U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, are part of a new tranche of weapons sent to Ukraine by the United States, the Pentagon announced Friday. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 23 (UPI) — The Biden administration announced the shipment of a new military aid package to Ukraine on Friday as the embattled nation prepared to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union.
The “significant new package of urgently needed weapons and equipment” includes counter-unmanned aerial systems equipment and munitions, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, as well as Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor missiles, the Pentagon announced.
The weapons, sourced from a drawdown of Defense Department stocks, are being shipped “as quickly as possible to bolster Ukraine’s defense of its territory and its people” as Kyiv opposes “Russia’s brutal aggression,” the U.S. military said.
President Joe Biden said he spoke with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to discuss the shipment and commemorate Saturday’s Independence Day, which marks the date on Aug. 24, 1991, when the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR adopted a resolution declaring its separation from the Soviet Union.
The act preceded the dissolution of the USSR on Dec. 26, 1991.
Biden said he expressed America’s “unwavering support for the people of Ukraine” in his conversation with Zelensky.
“For two-and-a-half years, they have repelled Russia’s vicious onslaught, including retaking more than half of the territory Russian forces seized in the initial days of the war,” he added. “They have remained unbowed in the face of Russia’s heinous war crimes and atrocities. And day after day, they have defended the values that unite people across both of our nations and around the world — including independence.”
“The Ukrainian people are grateful to President Biden, his administration, Congress, and the entire American people for their unwavering support since the first days of the full-scale war,” Zelensky responded in his own statement. “It enables us to endure and protect our statehood.”
Also on Friday, the Treasury Department added nearly 400 people and entities to sanctions already imposed on Russia for its invasion and ongoing war against Ukraine.
The new sanctions target a wide constellation of individuals and entities operating Russian support networks including financial technology, ammunition procurement, various military-industrial base suppliers, jet fighter supply networks, the domestic war economy, machine tool procurement and manufacturing equipment providers.
Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at his headquarters after the first round of presidential elections in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 31, 2019. Zelensky won that round of the Ukraine presidential election with 30.4% of votes. Photo by Stepan Franko/EPA-EFE
