U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby announced during a White House press briefing on May 31 that the U.S. would provide Ukraine with more air defense in response to russia's upsurge of attacks over the past month.
"We will use this (aid - ed.) package that we’re announcing today to provide Ukraine with additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems, which Ukraine has been deploying quite effectively, as well as more Avenger air defense systems, Stinger anti-aircraft systems," Kirby said.
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Avenger air defense systems, Stinger anti-aircraft systems, and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, also known as HIMARS, were also included in the new package, according to Kirby.
Kirby reminded that russia is attacking Ukrainian cities and destroying civilian infrastructure.
"The United States is going to continue to support Ukraine and help give them the things that they need to better defend themselves," Kirby said, adding that this latest defense package would be "the 39th drawdown of equipment from the Department of Defense inventories using presidential drawdown authorities," U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson emphasized.
Latter the U.S. Department of Defense announced additional security assistance worth $300 million "to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs."
According to a statement published on the DoD web site, this package include:
- Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems;
- AIM-7 missiles for air defense;
- Avenger air defense systems;
- Stinger anti-aircraft systems;
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
- 105mm tank ammunition;
- Precision aerial munitions;
- Zuni aircraft rockets;
- Munitions for Unmanned Aerial Systems;
- AT-4 anti-armor systems;
- Over 30 million rounds of small arms ammunition;
- Mine clearing equipment and systems;
- Demolition munitions for obstacle clearing;
- Night vision devices;
- Spare parts, generators, and other field equipment.
As the DoD statnment reads, "the United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements."
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